
Class _Jl iAl5 

Book H"i>S 

GcpigttW- — 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSFD 



KINGDOM OF GOD SERIES 



Studies in the development of the Kingdom of God, 
for use consecutively or as independent units. 



The Religion of Israel 

Twenty-six lessons. 

The Religion of Judah 

Twenty-six lessons. 
In preparation. 

The Life of Jesus 

Twenty-six lessons. 

The Teachings of Jesus 

Twenty-six lessons. 



By John Bayne Ascham 
By John Bayne Ascham 

By Harris Franklin Rail 
By Harris Franklin Rail 



The Kingdom of God Since the Time of Christ 

In preparation. By John Bayne Ascham 



The Christian Hope 

In preparation. 



By Harris Franklin Rail 



Teacher's Manuals 

For each unit, ready or in preparation. 



KINGDOM OF GOD SERIES 

Edited by 
Henry H. Meyer and David G. Downey 



TEACHER'S MANUAL 

FOR 

The Teachings of Jesus 



BY 

HARRIS FRANKLIN RALL 




THE ABINGDON PRESS 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI 



*$* 



Copyright, 1918, by 
HARRIS FRANKLIN RALL 



AUG I? 1919 



The Bible text used in this book is taken from the American Standard Edition 
of the Revised Bible, copyright, 1901, by Thomas Nelson & Sons, and is used by 
permission. 



©CLA501482 






CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

General Suggestions to the Teacher 7 

I. Jesus the Teacher 11 

II. Jesus' Method as Teacher 13 

III. The Father 17 

IV. The Higher Righteousness 19 

V. Sonship as a Gift 22 

VI. Sin, Repentance, and Faith 24 

VII. Humility and Aspiration 27 

VIII. Devotion and Trust 30 

IX. Prayer 32 

X. The Law op Brotherhood 35 

XI. The Law op Reverence and Regard 39 

XII. The Law op Grace and Good Will 42 

XIII. The Law op Service and Sacrifice 45 

XIV. The Law op Brotherhood and the Nations 48 

XV. The Disciple and the World 51 

XVI. Stewardship and Life 53 

XVII. The Kingdom as a Gift and a Good 56 

XVIII. The Kingdom as a Task 58 

XIX. The Kingdom as Inward and Outward 61 

XX. The Kingdom as Present and Future 64 

XXI. The Forms and Institutions of Religion 66 

XXII. Jesus' Conception of His Mission 69 

XXIII. Jesus' Conception of His Person 71 

XXIV. The Character of Jesus as Seen in His Relation 

to Men and to His Work 73 

XXV. The Character of Jesus as Seen in His Personal 

Life and Relation with God 75 

XXVI. The Heart of Jesus' Message — A Review 78 



Teachers of this course in 
The Teachings of Jesus should 
have the pupil's book as well 
as this manual. They will 
find either Huck's Synopsis of 
the First Three Gospels or 
Stevens and Burton's Har- 
mony of the Gospels an in- 
valuable aid. 



GENERAL SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER 

Two great ideas underlie the Kingdom of God Series. The 
first is the idea of the Kingdom. There is a Kingdom that is 
more than church in this world or heaven in the next; it is 
the new earth in which the Spirit of God shall rule men's 
hearts and homes, in which the good will of God shall be done 
in the factory and on the street, in the nation and among the 
nations of the earth. Back of these studies is the great 
thought that such a new world is coming. 

The second great idea is that this Kingdom is a develop- 
ment. God is growing a world just as we see him growing 
Christians round about us. That this is God's method we can 
see by looking at the world round about us: God does not 
make things over suddenly by an outside force, but works 
gradually and from within. In other words, it is the principle 
of life working from within rather than a machine working 
from without. The Bible shows us that this has been his 
way in the past. We trace there God's increasing revelation 
of himself to men, and his increasing gift of his life in men. 

In all your teaching of this course be sure to have these 
two great ideas stand out clearly before the class. See that 
they grasp its point of view at the very start. 

The first year of this course considered the development of 
the Kingdom as shown in the Old Testament. Now we come 
to the central and supreme event in this story of the King- 
dom, how God perfectly revealed himself in Jesus Christ, and 
how with Christ there began the new epoch in the making of 
the new earth. 

The Teacher's Preparation 

Two steps are necessary in the preparation of every lesson 
by the teacher. He must first master the material of the 
lesson; he must then plan how to teach it. Mastery of the 
material will best be accomplished by studying the chapter 

7 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

in accordance with the "Suggestions for Study" on page 14 
of the textbook. This involves, first, a grasp of the outline 
of each chapter, then a study of it in detail with the Scrip- 
ture references, and finally a thoughtful consideration of the 
questions raised in the "Directions for Study" at the end 
of each chapter. Let your study he thorough, that your class 
may he enriched by it. 

Distinguish clearly between your personal study of the les- 
son and your plan of teaching. Make your study as thorough 
as possible, then plan for the teaching of the lesson. (1) 
Each lesson is part of a larger campaign; connect it with what 
has gone before. This will make clearer its own meaning and 
will conserve your past work. (2) Each lesson may be con- 
sidered a campaign. Decide what your object is to be and then 
the means of accomplishing it. (3) Learn how to omit. Center 
upon the main points you have selected and make these clear 
and strong by illustration and discussion. 

Always think in terms of the minds of your class. They 
must do more than listen to you. Plan to keep them actively 
judging and reflecting, forming and expressing opinions upon 
the material of the lesson. See that as many as possible have 
the textbook and read and study. Make definite assignments 
and follow them up. Encourage the expression of opinions, 
especially when they are based on study. Help them to study 
by carefully explaining at the beginning the proper use of 
the textbook. Show them how to carry out the "Suggestions 
for Study" included there. 

Guard against too many applications and too much moraliz- 
ing. Make clear the teaching of Jesus and it will speak for 
itself. To make these teachings clear, however, and to make 
the work of the class vital and interesting, it will be well to 
illustrate the principles of Jesus by constant reference to pres- 
ent-day conditions and problems. 

Concerning Reviewing 

During this course a great deal of stress will be laid upon 

reviewing, and for two reasons. First, it is only thus that 

we can conserve results as we go along, fixing in mind what 

is important to retain. Second, by such reviewing we get hold 

8 



GENERAL SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER 

of the connection and meaning of the whole instead of being 
lost in details. 

In such reviewing certain principles are important, whether 
the review cover a few lessons or a half year. (1) Review 
with a method. Find some plan by which you can state the 
principal points clearly, simply, and under a few main heads. 
(2) Select your material with great care. Pick out essentials, 
and do not confuse by the mass. Learn how to omit. (3) 
While taking up this old material, make each review as fresh 
and attractive as possible in its method. 

The Use of the Bible 
Finally, a word as to the use of the Bible in this course. 
Too often in our Bible study we simply pick out a few verses 
and ask, "What does it teach, and what must we do?" We 
have made the Bible a book of theology and a book of morals. 
But the Bible is far more than this: it is a book of life. In 
this course we shall study it as such; not as so many writings 
dropped down from heaven, but as the record of what God 
has been doing in men and with men. Our great interest will 
not be the letter of the writing, but the life out of which the 
writings grew. We must study this life, what it was, and 
how it came to be and what it meant. Such a study will 
make the Bible live for us as never before, and will make it 
not simply a story of life in the past, but a giver of life to 
us now. 

Haekis Franklin Rall. 



CHAPTER I 

JESUS THE TEACHER 

This course gives a wonderful opportunity. We are to take 
up the most interesting questions that can concern a man, 
and we are to study in each case the answer that has been 
given by the Master Teacher. Quicken your class with your 
own enthusiasm in the prospect of such a study. 

I. Consider first Jesus' own estimate of this work of teach- 
ing. That estimate is seen (1) in the place which this work 
takes in his life; (2) in his own faith as a teacher. The 
former point gives us a welcome opportunity to look back 
over our study of the life. The second brings before us the 
parable of the sower. To most members of the class it will 
be a fresh and suggestive study to consider this parable as a 
confession of Jesus' own faith. Show how the church in her 
greatest days and her greatest leaders has shown her faith 
in the teaching and preaching of the truth. Think of Paul 
and Luther and Wesley, and the work of evangelism and 
missions to-day. With lesser men and lesser days there 
usually appears more reliance upon rules and creeds and 
forms maintained by ecclesiastical authority. 

II. In the second half of the lesson we consider Jesus as 
the one who founded by his word (as well as by his life and 
death) the new world-faith. 

(1) This appears in his entire independence of the authori- 
ties of his day and of the traditions which were held quite as 
sacred as Moses. But the special question here is his relation 
to the Old Testament. Leave time for this important matter. 
The practical result of the discussion should be twofold: to 
stir the class to a renewed study of that Bible (the Old Testa- 
ment) which meant so much to Jesus, and the clear realiza- 
tion that the final authority for the Christian must be the 
mind of Christ. 

11 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

(2) In discussing the "Ground of Jesus' Authority," we are 
considering this same question of authority as it lay in Jesus' 
consciousness. Here we face the interesting question as to 
what was new in Jesus, and what made him the founder of a 
new faith. 

Notes and Comments 

"The Teacher Is the Life-Shareb. The educational process 
at bottom is the sharing of life." Such was Jesus' teaching 
and such all teaching should be. It is not merely giving 
information or training the intellect. It is the giving of self 
and the training of the spirit. People sometimes contrast 
education and regeneration; they insist that we should rely 
less upon culture and more upon the Holy Spirit. Back of 
this lies a mistaken conception of teaching. True education 
demands the Spirit of God as much as any Christian work or 
Christian experience. If the teacher is to share life, then the 
Spirit of God must be in the teacher. If the truth is to bring 
forth life in the pupil, then the Holy Spirit must use that 
truth. "Truth through personality" was Phillips Brooks's 
definition of preaching, and that is what true teaching is. It 
is not a substitute for the Holy Spirit, but an instrument. 
Indeed, Christian history from Jesus and Paul onward shows 
that this is the great instrument. 

Jesus' Use of the Old Testament Is Most Suggestive fob 
the Christian. — We should live in our Bible as Jesus did. 
We should find those portions which are of special value and 
make them our own by thought and study. We shall thus 
build up a Bible within the Bible, composed of books and 
chapters and verses that really belong to us. We shall go back 
to them again and again as to tried friends. They will rise 
in our minds in hours of special trial, a word for our com- 
fort, a psalm for the time of thanksgiving, a portion for any 
need. To this end we may well make Ruskin's word our 
own: "Make it the first morning business of your life to un- 
derstand some part of the Bible clearly, and make it your 
daily business to obey it in all that you understand." 



12 



CHAPTER II 
JESUS' METHOD AS TEACHER 

Here is a lesson unusually rich in material. Not all that 
is in it can be used, nor is that intended with any lesson. 
The wise selection of material is an important part of the 
planning for each Sunday's teaching. Plan, therefore, to 
bring out the three main points: the character of Jesus' 
teaching as personal and vital, its picture form as seen in 
likeness and parable, and the right and wrong way of inter- 
preting his teaching. 

The purpose of the lesson is to give a vivid picture of the 
Master's teaching, as well as guidance in its use. The interest 
and the profit of the lesson hour will largely depend upon 
the way in which the points are illustrated from Jesus' own 
words. Select examples carefully and give the class oppor- 
tunity to furnish others. 

It will be a profitable plan to ask the class to give from 
memory as many pictures or objects as they can from Jesus' 
teaching. Group under different heads: inanimate nature, 
plants and trees, birds and other animals, pictures of home 
and childhood, pictures from men's work, other figures. An- 
other plan might be to call for a list of parables. Still an- 
other would be to read what is said about Jesus as poet, and 
then call for expressions as to the most beautiful passage in 
his teaching in respect to form. 

Another interesting study is to make a list of some of the 
pictures of Paul and compare them with those of Jesus. Note 
that they are far fewer, less clear, more from the world of 
law and business and war. 

Do not omit the last section, for here at the beginning of 
our study it is important to learn the right and the wrong 
way of handling the words of Jesus. This lesson is one which 
we as teachers need especially to keep in mind, and to which 

13 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

we must turn again and again the thought of our classes. 
We need to give it especial study also in order that we may- 
learn lessons for our own teaching. Four points at least we 
may learn from Jesus in this lesson. 

(1) Let us make our teaching vital, considering those 
truths which mean something for the life of men. 

(2) Let us secure "the point of contact," linking up our 
teaching with the interests and needs of those whom we lead. 

(3) Let us make our teaching clear and simple. 

(4) Let us learn how to use concrete material, the picture 
and the story. 

Notes and Comments 

The Illustrative Material Used By Jesus. — It is a study 
of deep interest and profit to gather together the pictures of 
Jesus, and it is a matter of astonishment to see how the 
whole of his Galilaean world is reflected in the brief gospel 
accounts of his words. Here is the world of nature, the sun 
that rises upon the evil and the good, the falling rain, the 
glowing sunset that betokens fair weather, the red of morn- 
ing that presages the storm, the lightning's flash that runs 
from end to end of the heavens, the scorching heat that burns 
grass and flowers, the sudden tempest that fills the dry river 
bed and carries away the house that rested on the sands. He 
shows us the growing things, the fair flowers and quick-fading 
grass, the growing corn, first the blade, and then the ear, 
and then the full corn in the ear; the field where wheat and 
tares are mingled together, the trodden path where the seed 
cannot spring up, the corner of the field where thorns and 
weeds crowd it out, and the bending heads of wheat tha't 
promise their hundredfold of harvest. There are the tiny 
mustard seed growing into a tree that can shelter the birds, 
and the reed that trembles in the wind, and the common 
weeds that are only for burning. We see the orchard, the 
fig tree putting forth its first leaves, and the unfruitful tree 
that must be digged about and fertilized. And there is the 
vineyard with its hedge and pit and watchtower and its fruit 
in season. Here are the living creatures too, the birds, care- 
free and yet cared for, the carrion birds drawn by the carcass, 

14 



JESUS' METHOD AS TEACHER 

the hungry flock swooping down to pick up the scattered 
grain, and the little sparrow whose dead body lies unnoticed 
by men, but whose fall is known to God. The birds come first 
in Jesus' sayings, but there are other creatures: the fox with 
his hole, the harmless dove, the serpent as symbol of wisdom, 
the dogs and swine who have no sense for pearls, the sheep 
who know their shepherd albeit sometimes straying foolishly, 
the wolf that attacks the sheep, the hen that gathers her 
brood. 

Reflection of Actual Life. — How vividly the pictures of 
Jesus bring before us the busy human life of his day! There 
are the objects of the common life: the salt and the leaven, 
the lamp and its oil, the dung-hill for refuse, the wine and 
the wineskins, the cloth and the patches. We see men at 
their pleasure, sitting at the great supper, joining in the 
wedding feast with its special garment. We watch them at 
their daily duties: the farmer caring for his vineyard, sowing 
his grain, watching the growing crop and noting the weeds, 
separating the good from the bad in harvest. Here are the 
merchantman traveling in search of fine pearls, the fisherman 
sorting his catch, the shepherd looking after his sheep, the 
man who is so eager to buy the field because of the treasure 
he has found in it, the landowner giving special commissions 
to trusted servants. The servants appear just as we know 
them to-day, the faithful and honest, the faithless and in- 
competent, the shrewd and dishonest. 

The Shadows. — There are shadows in the picture too. 
There are the men in the market place waiting to be hired. 
The master himself does not come, but simply sends a servant 
or slave; and some wait in vain for the chance to work. We 
note the long day with its heat and burden, and then watch 
the laborer at night, tired and hungry, first serving his master 
before he can take his own morsel. They sleep at night 
crowded together on the same bed, and the master has power 
to beat them with many stripes or even to cut his slaves 
asunder. There are poor men in debt: some being hurried 
off to prison, some sold as slaves. It is the picture of a cruel 
day. There is feasting at the table of the rich, with purple 
and fine linen, while out at the gate the beggar waits in vain 

15 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

surrounded by prowling dogs. The blind and crippled and 
leprous meet us on the way. There are thieves in the city and 
robbers on the street and wretched prisoners bearing their 
cross to the place of terrible punishment. 

Othee Figukes. — There are other figures: the rich farmer 
who is such a success in his own sight and such a failure 
before God, the men so busy with farm and wife and oxen 
that they have no time for higher things, and the unrighteous 
judge. Especially interesting are the pictures of the home 
and the children. We see the woman kneading her dough, the 
dark windowless house in which you must search long for 
your lost coin, the household perplexity over the unexpected 
guest. There is the meal time when the children gather 
about the table for their bread, while the dogs wait for the 
crumbs that may fall. There is the evening hour when the 
lamp on its stand gives light to all, and the night time when 
the door is bolted and the children are gathered safely in bed 
with the father. There are times of rejoicing when friends 
and neighbors are bidden, and days of sorrowful waiting for 
the one that is gone, and the hour of rejoicing with feast and 
dance when the lost son comes back. And the children! We 
see them coming in hungry from play or school, and receiv- 
ing, not serpent or stone, but fish and bread. We watch them 
at their sport, playing funeral and wedding just as they 
might to-day. And then they stand before us once more to 
preach their lesson, that in the kingdom of God not the wise 
nor the rich nor the mighty stand first, but those who have 
the child's open heart and the child's trust and love. 



16 



CHAPTER III 
THE FATHER 

By way of introduction it might be shown how a man's 
thought of God shapes all the rest of his thinking, his thought 
of life, of duty, of religion, his hope for the future. That is 
one reason why we begin with this doctrine in the teaching 
of Jesus. But the main reason is that this was Jesus' greatest 
word to men, as it was the all-controlling reality of his life, 
God the Father. 

Here, as elsewhere, it is helpful to compare Jesus' teaching 
with what went before, noting how he continues what went 
before and, on the other hand, how he surpasses it. In esti- 
mating the thought of the Old Testament about God we must 
not consider single passages here and there, but the dominant 
idea. Looking thus, we see tha t in the Old Testament God 
was King , i n the New Testament he is Fathe r. And yet foiT 
Jesus he is King as well as Father. 

We have here another lesson in which we must simplify 
and select. The best plan will be to group the teaching 
around the two phrases used as headings: The King is Father; 
the Father is King. The purpose of the lesson is to bring 
out clearly this great conception of Jesus, and so lay the 
foundation for all the later study. 

I. The King is Father. Note how simple this idea is as 
compared with other conceptions of God; a child can under- 
stand this. Show how rich it is and how much it involves. 
Then consider the tremendous faith of Jesus; he believed 
that love really sat on the throne of the world. Do we really 
believe that? That rather belongs to the second part: 

II. The Father is King. This part of the lesson will need 
special emphasis and development. The old theologians 
emphasized God's sovereignty, modern thought emphasizes 
his Fatherhood; but Jesus includes both. We need a revival 
of this idea of sovereignty. Here are rich practical lessons. 

17 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

(1) For the personal life, such a thought of the Father 
as King brings needed strength and confidence and peace. 
How wonderfully it brought this with Jesus! 

(2) For our social life this idea of God's kingship is needed 
to bring reverence and a deeper sense of right and obligation. 

Notes and Comments 

God the Fatheb. — So accustomed are we to think of God 
as Father that it is hard to realize that men have not always 
used this name. It is a mark of the spiritual ascendency of 
Jesus that this name, his name, is the one used everywhere 
in the world to-day. There were other names in his day for 
the relation of man and God, as there are still: King and sub- 
ject, Lord and servant, Creator and works; but this is the 
truest and richest name. The mark of highest genius is 
simpli city. When Jesus said, "Father, son, brother," all men 
"could know what he meant. And yet all these years have 
not exhausted the meaning of these words or enabled us to 
live up to their standard. To trust God as Father, to live 
with him as children, to live with men in a true brotherhood 
— this is still for the world its glorious and unachieved goal. 

One of Our Deepest Needs to-Day Is Reverence. — We have 
not a real enough sense of God's power and his right to com- 
mand. The attitude of children to parents, the common man's 
disregard of law when it does not agree with his ideas or his 
convenience, the use of intimidation and violence in some 
places by labor, the more subtle and dangerous anarchy some- 
times employed by big business when they defeat the law by 
means of the law: all this has its root in a common lack of 
reverence. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom for 
nation as well as individual . The revival that does not make 
a city more law-abiding is not a real revival. The adult Bible 
class that does not help to make towns dry and decent is not 
a success, whether it enrolls ten or ten hundred. 



18 



CHAPTER IV 
THE HIGHER RIGHTEOUSNESS 

A good introduction to this lesson may be found by taking 
Matthew 5. 20. Jesus had been criticized for his laxness in 
associating with sinners and in respect to the keeping of the 
law by his disciples and himself. Here he says: "I stand for 
a higher demand than do you. If men are not better than 
you require, they cannot enter the Kingdom." Our subject, 
therefore, is this higher righteousness. Our purpose is to 
show what it is that Jesus asks of men. 

The theme, "Righteousness with the Jews," gives the teacher 
an excellent opportunity to look back upon our previous course 
in the life of Jesus. We should welcome every such chance at 
review when it can be made vital and pertinent. It helps to 
tie up what has been gained and to make the student feel 
the progress made. What place did this idea of righteousness 
have in the life of the day? What did the scribes mean by 
this? 

After this little review, take up the theme proper by a study 
of Matthew 5. 17-48. Refer here to our study of Jesus' method 
of teaching and note how it is illustrated here: Jesus' discus- 
sion is almost all by means of concrete example and pictur e. 
But how it must have gone home! No question with these 
folks what he meant. Note, however, that back of these 
special examples lie the great principles: righteousness must 
be inner and spiritual, and it must be social. 

The heart of the lesson is in the paragraph on "Righteous- 
ness as Sonship." This lesson might well be called "Sonship 
as Man's Task," and the next lesson "Sonship as God's Gift." 

These years of war give added interest to the discussion of 
"Prinr.irtl .es. and Not Rules." M en quote the words of Jesus 
on both sides, trying to make rules just as the scribes did 
with Moses. Wp m^st. look to the inner spirit . We might 

19 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

make our heading, "Spirit, and Not Rules." It is significant 
that Jesus, when struck by an officer of the Sanhedrin, did 
not turn the other cheek, but made a quiet protest. It was 
his duty just then to bear witness to the truth, but the inci- 
dent shows the mistake of trying to make mechanical rules. 

The end of this lesson should be an earnest questioning as 
to our own hearts and lives. Can we stand the test of Jesus? 
When we think of our righteousness, is it outward respecta- 
bility and propriety and position that we have in mind, or is 
it the inmost spirit and thought and motive made like Christ? 

Notes and Comments 

Sex Obligations. — In his word about the impure glance, 
Jesus put his finger upon a great problem. More and more 
we are recognizing to-day the obligation that rests particu- 
larly upon fathers and mothers to teach their children the 
simple facts connected with the sexual life. We are realizing 
that it is their right to get these facts from us as parents, 
rather than through the chance channel of filthy companions, 
and to get them in time to save them from terrible errors. 
But Jesus points out the deeper task. The pure spirit must 
come before the pure body, and such purity means more than 
innocence. We must teach our boys to hate impurity as 
something selfish and cowardly. We must teach them rever- 
ence for all womanhood everywhere. And we must teach our 
young men and women a high reverence for themselves, and 
for all that is connected with that divine calling of parenthood 
by which men and women pass on to other generations the 
life that God has given to them. 

Letter Versus Spirit. — Matthew 5. 18, 19 seems to be in 
direct contradiction to what has been said as to Jesus' fulfill- 
ment of the law and his emphasis upon the spirit as against 
the letter. Some hold that the first, or both of these verses, 
are a later addition. This might easily have occurred, for 
we know that the early church in large part did not under- 
stand Jesus' position with regard to the law; if they had done 
so, Paul would not have had his memorable conflict with cer- 
tain Jewish Christians (read Galatians). Taken as a whole, 
Jesus' teaching and practice are perfectly clear: he does not 

20 



THE HIGHER RIGHTEOUSNESS 

stand for obedience to every letter of the law as verse 18 
states. It may be, however, that some such word was spoken 
by Jesus with this thought: "You have accused me of over- 
turning the law. I am the one who is really establishing it. 
Not one bit of God's truth or God's will so far as it appears 
in the law is to pass away, but all is to be fulfilled by me." 

Reverence. — Profanity is a sin that is fortunately growing 
less. The man who bolsters up his speech with oaths con- 
fesses by so doing that his ordinary speech has no weight 
with men. But ordinary profanity is not the only form of 
irreverence. There is a use of God's name in prayer that 
sometimes borders upon the irreverent. There is a style of 
sacred song which, to say the least, does not make for rever- 
ence. The same is true of the manner in which these songs 
are sometimes sung, with no thought of their meaning and 
apparently simply the effort to stir up cheap enthusiasm or 
other emotion. And there is a not infrequent slovenliness 
in public worship which looks the same way. Is our Sunday 
school worship, including its music, calculated to train our 
young people in reverence? 



21 



CHAPTER V 
SONSHIP AS A GIFT 

The last lesson gives us in a nutshell the ethics of Jesus. 
Ethics treats of character and duty; it considers the question, 
What.- must I do? Jesus' answer is: "You must be a son of 
your Father; you must have his spirit of mercy and act 
according to it." Religion answers the question, What may 
I hope for? That is what we consider in this lesson, and we 
note that Jesus replies with the same word, sonship. Only, 
in this case the sonship is a gift; it is the fellowship, with 
all its privileges, into which the Father of mercy receives us. 

The lesson is best opened up for the class by referring to 
the last lesson. Compare Jesus' standard with all the rules 
that others have ever laid down, and see how much more 
searching it is. It is, in fact, impossible for us. If that were 
all of Jesus' teaching there would be no "good news." This 
lesson shows how the impossible becomes possible. 

First, we must turn back to Jesus' teaching about God; 
upon that we must always rest back. If God were only the 
Judge, then he would say, "You must be like me before you 
can associate with me"; and we should be forever shut out. 
But he is the Father who gives himself to his sons that they 
may become sons, whose rule of life is mercy. The gift of 
sonship is the gift of this fellowship, and this fellowship is 
the power of a new life in us. 

There is a fine opportunity in this lesson to make fresh 
and clear and beautiful some of the great doctrines which 
have been too much disputed over in the past, and which 
are too much neglected to-day. In the past we have used 
the words of theologians, or perhaps the forms of Paul. We 
have failed to see these great truths in the teaching of Jesus 
just because he did not use these phrases. But the great 
truths are there in his simple speech, and all the better be- 
cause the speech is simple. 

22 



SONSHIP AS A GIFT 

Take a careful look at some of them. Forgiveness means 
the Father receiving his sons. Regeneration means his giving 
to us the spirit of sons. Sanctification means our helonging 
to him as sons, and our being made over into his spirit, just 
as sons become like their fathers when they have true fellow- v 
ship together. Holiness is simply the character of those sons 
who have become like their Father in his spirit of love. And 
all this spirit of the true son, the spirit by which we call God 
Father, the spirit by which we love like our Father, is God's 
Spirit in us and God's gift to us; that is the Holy Spirit. 

Notes and Comments 

Holiness in Jesus' Terms. — In many ways it would mark 
a great gain if we could turn to the simpler words of Jesus 
in speaking about the Christian life. Men have disputed 
about the meaning of holiness. It is more an Old Testament 
phrase and carries something of the negative over with it. 
But there is no doubt what Jesus means when he puts love 
and good will in its place, or when he tells what he means 
by righteousness. It is so with words like regeneration and 
sanctification, which we have taken from Paul. Especially 
with young people, or when there is danger of misunderstand- 
ing, it is better to use Jesus' manner of speaking of the life 
with God. 

A Mutual Relationship. — As far as God's Fatherhood is 
concerned, it must be remembered that while he sends his 
rain on the just and the unjust, his highest gifts come only 
to those who love and trust in return. Fatherhood and son- 
ship form a mutual relation that can exist in the full sense 
only when man's love and devotion answer to God's love and 
mercy. Only between the Father and the Son is that relation 
perfectly realized. Jesus' greatest gift lay in this, that he 
lived the true life of a Son with the Father and so showed 
us the way. 



// 



23 



CHAPTER VI 
SIN, REPENTANCE, AND FAITH 

We have seen that the teaching of Jesus is not systematic. 
That appears in this lesson. In studying Jesus as teacher 
we must not yield to the temptation to turn our Gospels into 
textbooks on theology. But this lesson also illustrates an- 
other most important point for us as teachers: Jesus' teaching 
forms a whole, and what he has to say on any theme grows 
out of a great central faith. That center of his life and faith 
is his thought of God. 

Begin this lesson, therefore, with a brief summing up of 
what we gained from the last three lessons about God and 
the life of man, the life that God asks, and the life that he 
gives. As each of the three points of our present lesson is 
taken up, relate it to this previous teaching. 

A good statement of the general theme of the lesson might 
be: Jesus' teaching about the gate to life. What does Jesus 
ask of men who wish to begin the Christian life? Show how 
simple Jesus' demand was. The poorest and most ignorant 
sinner could meet it, as well as the little child. On the other 
hand, note how severe and searching that same simple de- 
mand is. 

A good plan for teaching is to take up the three topics of 
the lesson as shown in the discussion. "Sin" is a word 
that means many things, usually to us the wrong thing that 
the other man does. What did it mean to the Pharisees? 
What does it mean to us? Ask the men of the class what 
idea comes to their mind when you say sin. Now, what did 
it mean to Jesus? What was the heart of sin with Jesus? 
How has Christianity deepened the sense of sin? Here note 
how Jesus' idea of righteousness makes plain what sin is — 
not so much this act or that, as a wrong inner spirit. So his 
idea of God reveals the darkness of sin. 

24 



SIN, REPENTANCE, AND FAITH 

Repentance is another word that we must rescue from 
narrow and false conceptions. What does it mean to most 
men? Something merely emotional and rather weak? Or 
do they think of it as a particular stage to he gone through 
with in a process of conversion? Some modern applications 
will help the class to realize how vital and necessary repent- 
ance is. Take the problem of war. How can we overcome 
this curse until there is a change of mind and a great hatred 
of war, of the whole theory of militarism with its doctrines 
that might makes right? So there must be a deep and real 
repentance before we shall overcome the great evils of state 
and of industry in our land. 

In the same way in speaking of faith, bring out the common 
conception; then show the simple and vital meaning with 
Jesus, and how his thought of God as loving Father makes 
necessary this idea of faith (obedient and loving trust) as 
supreme in the Christian life. 

Notes and Comments 

How to Waken Repentance. — In an early day men were 
wont to say, "We must first preach the law and its terrors to 
waken in men a sense of sin and the impulse to repentance." 
There is some truth in this. There is no strong Christian 
living that has not first of all a high ideal of righteousness 
and of its supreme demand upon us. We must first see "the 
Lord high and lifted up." The question is, Where shall we 
see this Lord, and how shall we hold up this righteousness? 
Not by going to Sinai! The highest righteousness for us is 
not the ancient law, but the spirit and life of our Lord. It 
is that with which we must shame the impurity of modern 
life, and condemn its hardness and greed. Not till we see 
God's love in Christ do we realize what it is against which 
we have sinned, and how mean our selfishness is as against 
the life of such love. And it is the cross of Christ that 
supremely reveals alike the loving holiness of God, the loyal 
spirit of Christ, and the darkness of our sin. 

Passion and Power. — In Jesus' idea of repentance we see 
one secret of his power, and that is the place which he gives 
to passion in religion. While repentance means a change of 

25 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OP JESUS 

thought and of will, it means above all the stirring of a 
great emotion in the heart, a moral passion. Now, moral 
passion and moral power go together. The morality of mere 
duty brings tasks, but no strength; it may call forth the 
assent of the mind, but it stirs no deep desire in the heart. 
Such a new passion Jesus kindled. First of all, it was a 
deep tide of penitence. And then he set before men the new 
life not as a mere task, but as a deep and pure love, a great 
longing, a flaming devotion to a great cause and a great 
leader. In that hatred of sin and that new longing for God 
the old sinful passions were consumed. So Jesus opened 
the way to freedom, for no man is free from his sins until 
he is set free from the old desires by a new and deeper pas- 
sion. 

An Abiding Task. — Repentance is often thought of as a 
mere preliminary to conversion, a single experience in the 
Christian life. It should be, on the contrary, a permanent 
element in Christian experience. That does not mean that 
men should keep on bewailing their past sins; but every day 
should see us turn away from sin with renewed hatred, and 
every day should see us looking toward God and good with 
new desire. 

Simplicity of Christian Life. — We need to regain the sim- 
plicity of Jesus' teaching concerning the Christian life, espe- 
cially the beginning of it. We have set up gates and doors 
at the entrance of the Christian life which we have had no 
right to erect. We have said, You must first have such and 
such an experience; or, You must accept this or that creed; 
or, You must agree to obey this or that set of rules. Have 
we the right to demand more than Jesus did? He said: 
"Arise and follow me. Turn from your sin and trust in me." 
But Jesus' word, though simpler than ours, has often been, 
and is, far more searching. Every day we are to face about 
from all sin, every day we are to say "yes" to him with whole 
heart and single will. 



26 



CHAPTER VII 
HUMILITY AND ASPIRATION 

We begin now a series of seven chapters in which we shall 
study the Christian life and character, first as related to God, 
then as related to men. On the one hand connect each study- 
closely with the teaching of Jesus about God, on the other 
hand seek constantly for illustration and guidance in the 
life and spirit of Christ himself. 

"Vitality is a matter of emphasis," one discerning thinker 
has said. That is to be remembered in this lesson and may 
be used by way of introduction. What does it mean that 
he placed the Beatitudes here at the very opening of the 
Sermon on the Mount? Bring out the contrast between this 
emphasis of Jesus and the common view of men even yet. 

Take up first the question of humility. Bring out from 
the members of the class or otherwise what the common view 
of this is. What is the real thought of Jesus here? Show 
how humility and strength go together. Note, for example, 
how Lincoln before his inauguration took wide counsel as to 
his Cabinet and other matters. There was a certain fine 
humility about him; but the men who thought he would be 
wax in the hands of stronger men were soon undeceived. 

Connect the idea of aspiration with Jesus' message as to 
the higher righteousness. If all our life be a gift from God, 
then this longing is our first need. 

Consider carefully the Scripture references in this lesson, 
the Beatitudes and the two references concerning the child. 
The Beatitudes are not a general introduction in beautiful 
phrases; the heart of Jesus' teaching is here. 

This lesson is full of practical suggestions and problems. 
Leave time for some of these. Does your church appreciate 
the child problem, or, rather, the child opportunity? Have 
you an adequate program for the child, and is the whole 

27 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

church behind it? Does the child have a fair chance in your 
community? Count up the things that a Christian community 
ought to offer to every child in it: for example, decent and 
wholesome physical surroundings, good schools and a chance 
to attend, right moral surroundings (no saloons and dives), 
wholesome recreation and organized play. 

As a fine illustration of humility and aspiration, note 
Philippians 3. 7-14. Find other examples in the Bible and 
out of it. 

Notes and Comments 

Two Classes of Men. — We often speak of men as good and 
bad. We have no real right to classify men that way. Jesus 
declared that there was but one Being who was absolutely 
good, and that was God. And he seems not to have thought 
of any man as utterly bad. Good and evil are mixed in human 
lives; there is no perfectly good, no utterly bad. Life here 
is in the making. The real question is, not what a man is, 
but what he is becoming. The real division is between the 
men who are growing bad and the men who are becoming 
good. Ruskin is right: "The man who is not growing better 
is no longer good." The satisfied man is the one who is in 
danger. The time of peril is not always that of youth, with 
its hot passions. Why does there come so often the moral 
breakdown in middle life? Is it not because men become 
satisfied, and lose their sense of need, their humility, and 
their desire? On the other hand, heaven is full of joy and 
high hope when the poorest wretch from the depth of his 
sin lifts his face in a prayer. The long road does not matter, 
if only he has turned toward God. 

What Jesus Condemns is as significant as what he praises. 
He does not spend his time in assailing profanity, dishonesty, 
drunkenness, and sexual immorality. These were evil, and 
men knew it. But men did not see what was the very heart 
of all evil: to be satisfied and indifferent. 

A Picture from the Dark Continent. — Here is a picture 
of Mackay of Uganda that shows us how humility and power 
go together. It comes from Stanley: "He has no time to fret 
and groan and weep; and God knows, if ever man had reason 

28 



HUMILITY AND ASPIRATION 

to think of graves and worms and oblivion, and to be doleful 
and lonely and sad, Mackay had, when, after murdering his 
bishop and burning his pupils, strangling his converts and 
clubbing to death his dark friends, Mwanga turned his eye 
of death on him. And yet the little man met it with calm 
blue eyes that never winked. To see one man of this kind 
working day after day for twelve years bravely, and without 
a syllable of complaint or a moan amid the wilderness, and 
to hear him lead his little flock to show forth God's loving- 
kindness in the morning and his faithfulness every night, is 
worth going a long journey for the moral courage and con- 
tentment one derives from it." The secret of all this comes 
in the words of Mackay's fellow worker: "Very humble, very 
weak, very childlike, was he on his knees before God; very 
bold, very strong, very manly afterward, when he bore for 
three hours the browbeating and bullying of Mwanga and his 
chiefs." 



29 



CHAPTER VIII 

DEVOTION AND TRUST 

Nothing seemed easier in Jesus' day than to become his 
disciple; and nothing seems simpler than the life to which 
he called men. But just as soon as we look into that life 
more closely, we see how rich it is. This lesson leads us into 
the very heart of that life. Note the four divisions. 

I. The demand: Obedience, or devotion. How wide-open 
Jesus flung the door! Anyone could come in: harlot, publican, 
ignorant, outcast. But how searching is his invitation! Any- 
one may come, but it must be with the whole heart. "Narrow 
is the gate, and straitened the way." Some things must be 
left behind: selfishness cannot get through, nor any manner 
of sin. 

Now bring out the practical aspect, that this life of obedi- 
ence and decision, this life with a single aim, is the strong 
and satisfying life. The narrow gate has a positive as well 
as a negative side. Let the stream spread out and it has no 
power. Shut the water up and it will turn mills, light cities, 
dig out metals, drive railway trains. Find instances of men 
with one positive aim who have won out. 

II. The life of trust. Consider anxiety as a disease and 
what it means for health. Consider it as a sin; why did 
Jesus hold it such? Then take his life of trust. This is 
not to "sit and sing ourselves away to everlasting bliss." Trust 
means joy and peace, but it means action too. Fear paralyzes, 
faith empowers and sets free. Find illustrations of this power 
of faith in big enterprises of business and state. Did any man 
ever do a big thing without it? Note advertisements which 
offer to teach men confidence as the key to success. 

III. Consider the close relation between obedience and 
trust, how each demands the other. Are there people trying 
to live the life of trust and peace who have never paid the 
price of whole-hearted surrender? 

30 



DEVOTION AND TRUST 

IV. Bring out some of the rich practical lessons and appli- 
cations. Note especially the material given in Notes and 
Comments, and let this suggest illustrations of your own. 

Notes and Comments 

Mazzini on Faith. — Mazzini, the great Italian patriot, has 
well shown how devotion to a great end and the spirit of 
trust go together to make a life of faith. "Faith requires an 
aim capable of embracing life as a whole, of concentrating all 
its manifestations, of directing its various modes of activity, 
or of repressing them all in favor of one alone. It requires 
an earnest, unalterable conviction that that aim will be 
realized; a profound belief in a mission, and the obligation 
to fulfill it; and the consciousness of a supreme power watch- 
ing over the path of the faithful toward its accomplishment. 
These elements are indispensable to faith; and where any 
one of these is wanting we shall have sets, schools, political 
parties, but no faith, no constant hourly sacrifice for the sake 
of a great religious idea." 

The Cure for Worry. — Worry is a form of poison that 
weakens a man and wears him out more quickly than the 
hardest work. There are two cures for worry. One is the 
cure of fatalism: everything is decided and worry makes no 
difference, therefore do not worry. There is a Chinese say- 
ing: "The legs of the stork are long and the legs of the duck 
are short. You cannot-make the legs of the stork short, 
neither can you make the legs of the duck long. Why worry?" 
But worry is not overcome simply by pointing out its foolish- 
ness. The only cure for worry is a real faith. It does not 
do much good to hang "Don't Worry" mottoes on your walls, 
if you have no strong faith in God in your heart. 

Emerson on Faith. — "All great ages have been ages of 
belief. I mean, when there was any extraordinary power of 
performance, when great national movements began, when 
arts appeared, when heroes existed, when poems were made, 
the human soul was in earnest." 



31 



CHAPTER IX 

PRAYER 

This lesson affords an excellent occasion, not for a formal 
review, but for a summary of the last chapters which have 
treated the Christian life. For prayer is not so much one 
part of the Christian life as it is the expression of the whole 
of that life in a particular manner. It will be least confusing 
to follow the general outline of the lesson discussion in ar- 
ranging the plan of teaching. 

I. Jesus encourages men to pray. Note that Jesus does not 
command men to pray, or lay down rules as to how often 
they must pray or what they should say. The Lord's Prayer 
was not a prescription, but a help and guide. He speaks of 
prayer as of a great privilege, a rich and satisfying life into 
which he wishes to lead men. So his words are largely words 
of encouragement, pointing out what kind of a Father they 
have, how readily they should go to him, how confidently they 
might trust him. Is not that the first thing that men need 
to-day, to be encouraged to go oftener to God? 

II. Set forth clearly the nature of prayer. First, disabuse 
men of the idea that prayer is mere petition. That is the 
idea of primitive man, for whom God is a power that can 
give. For us God is still a power that can give, but his 
greatest gift is himself. Real prayer is talking with God, not 
merely asking from God. Now point out how all aspects of 
the Christian life come to expression in prayer: repentance, 
humility, desire, obedience, love, trust. 

III. How shall men pray? The question is largely an- 
swered if we make clear the principle that we are to have 
faith in God and not in our prayers. It is a contradiction 
to ask men to trust and obey at other times, but in prayer to 
insist upon the wisdom of their own choice and the assertion 
of their own will. Bring out suggestions, coming from practi- 
cal experience, as to helpful ways in prayer. Note the para- 

32 



PRAYER 

graph "Prayer Ruts." Get a supply of the little booklet, The 
Practice of the Presence of God the Best Rule of a Holy Life, 
by Brother Lawrence. They would cost fifteen cents apiece, 
or less in quantity. Give the class a chance to buy them. 
Another fine book is Fosdick, The Meaning of Prayer. 

IV. Distinguish between importunity in prayer and perse- 
verance in praying. In the former we are trying to bring 
God our way, in the latter to bring ourselves to God's way. 
Remember, mere time does not count. If you have fifteen 
minutes, it might be best to use ten in reading and meditat- 
ing. Listening to God is one way of praying. 

V. Study the Lord's Prayer and the Lord's praying. 
Some of the above will have to be omitted. Choose for your 

emphasis what will be most vital and most valuable to the 
class. 

Notes and Comments 

Prayer and Power. — Prayer is the source of all power. That 
is not hard to understand if we will but reflect. All higher 
life comes through personal fellowship. The supreme fellow- 
ship is that with God. And prayer, the prayer of trustful 
obedience, is the open door of the spirit by which God comes 
in. There is only one way to overcome what is low in our 
life, and that is to live in the presence of the high. It has 
been well said, "Your prayer will kill your sin, or your sin 
will kill your prayer." There is one sure way to conquer sin, 
and that is to bring each day that impurity, or that envy or 
selfish ambition, into the presence of God with honest confes- 
sion and prayer for victory. Such waiting before God means 
the reenforcement of all good. 

Prayer Ruts. — "Get out of the ruts Of prayer. Pray some- 
times standing up; then pray kneeling; then pray sitting 
down; then pray lying down on your couch at night. Pray 
in the morning when the sun first streams in at your window. 
Pray at noonday when you stand up at the lunch counter in 
some big city. Pray at night when you go to the place of 
recreation. Never go to any place where prayer is impossible. 
Pray sometimes alone when nobody hears. Then get some 
dear friend to kneel down and lead you in prayer, and when 

33 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

your lips are dry and your heart is dull, that friend may lift 
you up to God." — W. H. P. Faunce. 

The Practice of the Presence of God. — One of the best 
little booklets on prayer is that called The Practice of the 
Presence of God the Best Rule of a Holy Life. It contains 
the words of Brother Lawrence, a humble and uneducated 
man, who was a lay brother in the order of the barefooted 
Carmelites in France two hundred and fifty years ago. Brother 
Lawrence held "that we should establish ourselves in a sense 
of God's presence by continually conversing with him." In 
order to form such a habit, and to refer all we do to him, 
"we must first apply to him with some diligence: but that 
after a little care we should find his love inwardly excite us 
to it without any difficulty." "Our sanctification did not de- 
pend upon changing our works, but in doing that for God's 
sake which we commonly do for our own." "His prayer was 
nothing else, but a sense of the presence of God, his soul 
being at that time insensible to everything but divine love: 
and when the appointed times of prayer were past, he found 
no difference, because he still continued with God, praising 
and blessing him with all his might, so that he passed his 
life in continual joy." "We ought, once for all, heartily to 
put our whole trust in God, and make a total surrender of 
ourselves to him, secure that he would not deceive us." 

A Cook by God's Grace. — Brother Lawrence's work was 
that of a cook. When he began his work he would say: "O 
my God, since thou art with me, and I must now, in obedi- 
ence to thy commands, apply my mind to these outward things, 
I beseech thee to grant me the grace to continue in thy pres- 
ence; and to this end do thou prosper me with thy assistance, 
receive all my works, and possess all my affections." As he 
proceeded with his work, he continued this familiar conver- 
sation. When he had finished, he examined himself. If he 
had done well, he gave thanks to God; if ill, he asked pardon, 
but continued his exercise of the presence of God. "Thus 
by rising after my falls, and by frequently renewed acts of 
faith and love, I am come to a state wherein it would be as 
difficult for me not to think of God as it was at first to accus- 
tom myself to it." 

34 



CHAPTER X 
THE LAW OF BROTHERHOOD 

This is one of the turning points in the course where a 
special review will be of value. God as Father and man as 
son — these are the fundamental ideas in Jesus' teaching, and 
these we took up in Chapters III to V. Next followed four 
chapters on man's life with God. Call briefly to mind the 
great ideas of these last chapters: how this life means a turn- 
ing in sorrow from sin and a trustful surrender, how it means 
openness of heart and humble but eager desire, its character 
of utter devotion to God in trust and obedience, and finally 
its character as a life of fellowship which finds expression 
in prayer. Thus Jesus pictures the son's life with his Father. 

The next four chapters show how the son is to live with 
his brothers. These will be found to be full of material of 
great practical interest and value. In each of them we should 
aim at three things: (1) to interpret clearly and correctly 
the material in the biblical references, (2) to grasp the under- 
lying principle which forms the theme of the chapter, (3) 
to illustrate and enforce the practical meaning for the life 
of to-day. 

Relate the first chapter on the "Law of Brotherhood" to 
Jesus' teaching about God's Fatherhood. This law of brother- 
hood really includes the next three chapters, and all four 
might be considered as the Law of Sonship. All four of theni 
simply make plain how men will act toward their brothers if 
the spirit of the Father is in them. 

The Bible material is not to be taken up in detail, but only 
from the point of view of the special theme of this lesson. 
In Luke 15. 11-32 we have usually looked at the younger son 
and called this the parable of the prodigal. As a matter of 
fact the message of the parable is given in the pictures of the 
father and the elder brother. The former shows us the right 

35 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

spirit of men in relation to their brothers, the latter the 
wrong spirit. In discussing Matthew 5. 38-48, recall what was 
said in Chapter II about Jesus' method of teaching. 

Religion according to Jesus is not a simple line between 
man and God, but, rather, a triangle whose three points are 
God, man, and man's brother. Brotherhood is not an inciden- 
tal duty, but an essential and central part of man's life as 
a son of God. Religion without brotherhood is no more Chris- 
tian religion than religion without Fatherhood. 

The practical aspects of this question are very suggestive. 
Think of the Christian life as "being a brother." Note how 
perfectly simple this is and yet how deep it goes and how 
far it reaches. Let us test our own lives by this question: 
How much attention do we give to the matter of being a 
brother? Is that the dominant fact in our life as a church? 
Is the Methodist Church doing its best to be brother to the 
man in China, in India, in Africa, and Korea? Does that 
describe the spirit of our own local church? Does that spirit 
show itself simply in shaking hands, or does it appear in 
practical all-the-week service? 

Notes and Comments 
A League fob the Practice of Brotherhood. — Every church 
should be a league of men for the practice of brotherhood. 
The atmosphere of brotherhood should fill the church, so 
that every one who comes near it should feel it. That does 
not mean a noisy demonstration of friendship, but a spirit 
of earnest good will and eager interest reaching out to every 
one in need. The "Big Brother" movement, organized some 
years ago in New York, seeks to bring together the boy that 
has gotten into trouble, especially in connection with the 
courts, and some man who will be a friend to him. Such a 
boy may not need money or a job, but he does need a big 
brother, a man who will be interested in him and keep in 
touch with him year in and year out. Every community has 
boys who need big brothers, girls without the right home life 
or with meager privilege who need big sisters, and many 
others who have similar need: old folks, invalids, men out 
of work, tired mothers to whom some brother or sister with 

36 



THE LAW OF BROTHERHOOD 

a motor car could give a bit of release, the man hard pressed 
in business who needs cheering up, lonely folks, and people 
with sorrows. 

No True Democracy Without Christian Brotherhood. — 
Democracy expresses in political organization and industrial 
life the Christian ideal of brotherhood. It stands for the 
rights of all as against the power or the privilege of the few. 
It is a Christian conception. What men have often failed to 
Isee is that there can be no true or lasting democracy that 
lhas not behind it the Christian faith in God as Father and 
the Christian ideal of brotherhood. The French Revolution 
had its cry of liberty, equality, and fraternity, but it went 
down in bloodshed because there was no true spirit of brother- 
hood back of these words. Men clamored for their rights, 
but they forgot righteousness, the rights of others. There 
was no reverence for man as man and for all men, no true 
spirit of unselfish devotion to the whole. And it is this regard 
for man as man, this devotion to the common life that will 
make us think and pray and work and vote, that must save 
our land from its ills and build it up as a true Christian 
democracy. The reverence for every man as one of the 
Father's children, and the love for every man as brother, are 
the two pillars upon which democracy must rest. 

Brotherhood and Modern Life. — Our modern industrial life 
forms one of the most serious problems for brotherhood. The 
old relation between employer and employee was direct and 
personal, and could easily be made brotherly. Master and 
men often worked together. To-day we have great corpora- 
tions like our railways, where the personal touch is impossible 
between employer and workman. For the stockholders, who 
are the real employers, may be thousands in number, and 
have no relation at all to the men who work. And the men 
themselves are a great army of scores of thousands in an 
elaborate organization. In other ways modern life has tended 
to separate men in this land. Industry has made a smaller 
number very rich, and these live mainly by themselves. On 
the other hand, vast numbers must live in crowded tenements 
and form a distinct and separate community. Then we have 
separation according to race, a little Italy here, and a ghetto 

37 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OP JESUS 

there, and the increasing tendency to segregate the colored 
population in the cities. 

The Duty of the Church. — Here is the plain duty of the 
Christian Church. The spirit of brotherhood must break 
down barriers. That does not mean that people are to be 
made alike and all differences leveled. To do that you would 
have to level down. It does mean that there must be brotherly 
knowledge and sympathy. There must be mutual understand- 
ing and the spirit of helpfulness. There must be an earnest 
consideration of each for the rights of others, an earnest 
desire to promote their welfare. That which unites us is 
greater than that which divides, and we must emphasize it; 
for we are all children of one Father, and we are all under 
one law of Jove and service. The spirit of aloofness, the 
appeal to prejudice, the insistence upon right and privilege, 
the note of contempt or hatred, these are the real dangers 
to our land to-day, and they are sins against Jesus Christ in 
the person of his brothers. 



38 



CHAPTER XI 
THE LAW OF REVERENCE AND REGARD 

This lesson concerns a principle that has received com- 
paratively little special treatment by Christian teachers. The 
reason may he that it is not stated in the Gospels in so many 
words. Yet just as soon as we once consider it, we see how 
fundamental it is in Jesus' thought and what wide and vital 
meaning it has to-day. President King of Oberlin has de- 
clared that "the principle of reverence for personality is the 
ruling principle in ethics and in religion," and that it is "the 
characteristic that most clearly distinguishes the modern 
world from the ancient." (See also Rail, A Working Faith, 
pp. 167ff.) 

In studying the biblical passages note that this is not the 
surface suggestion or the lesson usually drawn from them, 
yet see how it lights up their meaning. Such a study will 
freshen up these passages and give them new value. 

Get the fundamental principle of the lesson clearly before 
the class. It follows simply and directly from the two great 
principles of Fatherhood and sonship. Just as soon as a 
man knows himself as the son of such a Father all manhood 
becomes different to him. Not even the humblest or meanest 
man can ever be a mere tool any more, a mere servant to do 
work, a mere "hand" in factory or on farm, or a mere man 
in the ranks to fight. 

There is so much material here that the teacher will need 
to plan carefully to bring out the important facts and yet 
avoid confusion. The following order might be used: 

1. Note God's reverence for man, how he has made and 
trained the race, how he calls men, what he offers men. 

2. Note the Old Testament message as seen in prophet and 
psalmist, how the psalmist speaks of man as a little lower 
than God, how the prophets scourge those, whether kings or 
nobles or rich men, who oppress even the humblest. 

39 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

3. Consider Jesus' reverence for personality, how he shows 
it to the most sinful as well as the most humble, and how his 
reverence and faith stir the highest in men. 

4. Now consider the practical meaning of this truth for us, 
and first of all how men should reverence themselves. Here 
is a fine lesson in temperance. 

5. Then note some of the many applications of this in the 
social relations of men, indeed, in all the relations of life. 
Aside from those mentioned in the lesson discussion, find 
other instances where this law of reverence is working changes 
in social and industrial life. Is there any place in your com- 
munity where it is being violated, or where it might be better 
observed? How can this fundamental law of reverence and 
regard for personality be inculcated among men in the rela- 
tions of everyday life? 

Notes and Comments 

The Pkinciple in Education. — Consider this principle of 
reverence for personality in the field of education and reform. 
At the heart of modern education is this reverence for the 
child. Men used to put first the curriculum, the subjects to 
be taught; now we put the child in the midst. We must first 
study the child, what he is, how he grows, what he needs. 
We must make our work fit the child, not the child fit our 
work; and that is as true of the Sunday school as anywhere. 

Penal Reform and Its Use of the Rule. — Recent years 
have seen great advances in the treatment of the juvenile 
delinquent and the adult criminal. In every such case we 
shall find that Jesus' principle of reverence and regard has 
been used. What Judge Lindsey does in Denver is to trust 
the boys on the one side, and to win their trust on the other. 
It is a man-to-man treatment, in which they themselves are 
respected and in which they have a fair chance. Deeply inter- 
esting has been the work of Warden Tynan of the State 
Penitentiary of Colorado. He has employed hundreds of his 
men in making magnificent roads throughout the state. 
Scores of these men may be found in camp many miles from 
the prison, and the only gun in the camp will be in the hands 
of a convict standing guard against possible marauders from 

40 



THE LAW OF REVERENCE AND REGARD 

without. How has he done it? By giving a man's chance to 
every man that has showed promise that he would use it. 
Warden Osborne's position at Sing Sing was the same. He 
treated his prisoners as if they were still men, giving them 
a man's chance even to the matter of self-government in 
prison discipline. The week that he spent among them, un- 
known to them except as a fellow inmate, sharing their cell, 
their toil, their fare, made them feel that here was one who 
wanted to know them as brother men and treated them as 
such. The response was notable. No more stirring tribute 
to the method of Jesus has been given than the tale of that 
convict who "made his get-away" at the time when Warden 
Osborne was dislodged by his foes, but who came back volun- 
tarily and unattended to take his full sentence with extra 
penalty, because he saw that he was doing a harm to Warden 
Osborne. And not less striking is the fact that it was a group 
of ex-convicts who persuaded him to return. 

In Modern Chaeity. — Modern charity uses the same prin- 
ciple. The giving which humiliates, which lessens self-regard, 
or self-reliance, is wrong giving. Our Sunday schools have some- 
times made this mistake in connection with a "giving Christ- 
mas," by sending groups of children to deliver baskets here 
and there. Such a method may be interesting to the children, 
but what if it humiliates those who receive? We must give 
help in such a way as to build up courage and self-respect, 
to set men upon their feet instead of confirming them in their 
dependence upon others. 

The Blight of Scorn. — The spirit of scorn and contempt 
not only wrongs him who must bear it, but blights him who 
cherishes it as well. Nothing will more surely destroy the 
fine fiber of a man's character. And nothing will work deeper 
harm in a nation than for one class in that nation to feel 
the spirit of scorn or contempt for another class whether 
because of race or color or position. Slavery injures the 
master as truly as the slave. No part of our people can live 
the true and full life so long as any other part, negro, 
foreigner, poor, is shut out of the privileges of life. We must 
rise together or we shall all stay down. 



41 



CHAPTER XII 
THE LAW OF GRACE AND GOOD WILL 

There are certain Christian ideas with which we have 
grown so familiar that we do not sense their full meaning or 
realize how much it meant to bring them into the world. 
That is true of this thought of grace and good will, which is 
the Christian doctrine of love. It is the task of the teacher 
to find some new way of approach that will freshen up the 
thought and bring out its rich content. 

The lesson discussion suggests such a way of approach. It 
points out three stages in the thought of God: mere power, 
indifferent to man; bare justice, giving to each only what 
he has earned; and rising above both of these, Jesus' great 
thought of the God who is all mercy and good will. Show 
now the three corresponding stages in man's thought of his 
relation to men. 

Our great task is to make our life with men fit in with our 
thought of God. If grace is the law of God's heart, it must 
be the law of our life; that is the truth which this lesson 
makes clear. God's true being is the law for our being. A 
simple plan of teaching the lesson is the following: 

1. Show the relation, as suggested above, of a man's thought 
of God and his conception of his own life, giving illustrations 
or calling for them. 

2. Show how Jesus brings this out in Matthew 5. 43-48. 
These verses and those preceding do not give new rules, but 
simply illustrate how men should let God's spirit of grace be 
their ruling spirit. 

3. Show how this spirit of grace will manifest itself as good 
will to men. Use Jesus' life as illustration. 

4. The spirit of good will as unlimited and unconquerable. 
It is not limited to men of our kind or class or circle, any 

42 



THE LAW OF GRACE AND GOOD WILL 

more than God's grace is. It cannot be overcome by the way 
men behave toward us any more than God's good will toward 
us is limited by our disobedience, ingratitude, or sin. 

5. Consider how inconsistent and wicked it is to expect 
grace from God and to refuse this law of grace in our rela- 
tions to our neighbor. Here use Jesus' parable of the unmerci- 
ful servant. 

6. Consider what is demanded of us by this law of grace 
in the matter of forgiveness. (1) We cannot always forgive 
our brother in the fullest sense of that word, that is, establish 
the mutual relation of good will and trust between us. It 
takes two to do that in the case of man and man, as it does 
in the case of man and God. (2) The spirit of forgiveness, 
the longing for our brother, must always be present. What 
he does, or will not do, must not change our spirit. (3) There 
must be a positive spirit of reconciliation, the spirit which 
leaves the sacrifice at the altar and goes out to seek the 
brother, just as God goes out to seek us. 

Notes and Comments 

What We Can Do. — Forgiveness takes two, for in its full 
sense it means to reestablish a relation that has been broken 
by sin or wrong. God cannot reestablish that relation until 
we come with penitence and desire. We cannot restore friend- 
ship with our enemy unless he so desire. But the spirit of 
forgiveness we can always show, and the earnest desire for 
reconciliation. 

A Mark of Strength. — "To forgive a fault is nobler than 
to be faultless. The duty is to forgive the penitent for his 
own sake, the impenitent for our own. The human soul is 
never so strong as when it foregoes revenge and dares to 
forgive an injury." 

A Great Faith. — The simplicity of the words of Jesus some- 
times hides their profound meaning. What a world revolu- 
tion it will make when men once grasp that simple message 
of Jesus concerning love and good will! Love, Jesus teaches, 
is the heart of God and the throne that rules the world; and 
love is the life of man and the only true life. 

43 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OP JESUS 

"I say to thee, do thou repeat, 
To the first man thou mayest meet 
In field or lane or open street, 
That he, and we, and all men move 
Under a canopy of love 
As broad as the blue sky above. 

"And ere thou leave him, say thou this 
Yet one word more, 'They only miss 
The winning of that final bliss 
Who will not count it true that love, 
Blessing, not cursing, rules above, 
And that in it we all live and move.' " 

Christian Hospitality. — One application that Jesus made 
of this law of good will is still as pertinent as ever. Then, as 
now, the beautiful name of hospitality was joined to what 
was a mere matter of exchange. If a man is to be really 
blessed, to know the real joy of hospitality, says Jesus, he 
must try a different plan. Let him not ask his friends or 
relatives, but the poor and crippled and blind. These cannot 
pay you back, "and thou shalt be blessed" (Luke 14. 12-14). 
What if we should use our homes for one year in this manner, 
not anxiously compiling lists and keeping records of social 
obligations to be paid off, but finding in our home a fine God- 
given chance for showing good will? And what if we should 
tell our friends that we were not going to follow our previous 
Christmas custom? And what if we should forget all about 
those who had "remembered us," and simply plan to give 
where men had need and where we could serve? Think what 
a nation-wide Christmas like that would mean! 



44 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE LAW OP SERVICE AND SACRIFICE 

In this chapter the final meaning of the law of brotherhood 
comes to expression. In the four chapters closing with the 
present we have been mounting step by step. Let us trace 
these steps again by way of introduction. 

(1) All men are sons of God, my brothers, and I must 
act toward them in the spirit of the Father. Fatherhood 
gives the rule of brotherhood. 

(2) That means a spirit of reverence toward every man 
as a child of God. 

(3) That means a spirit of grace seen as unconquerable 
good will toward all, and as the spirit of forgiveness and 
reconciliation. 

(4) That brings us to the present lesson: the final expres- 
sion of brotherhood is the giving of life for others. 

The main difficulty in teaching this lesson comes from our 
very familiarity with the idea of service. We need to show 
what Jesus did by bringing in this ideal, and what its place 
is in his religion. 

For the first point, bring out the sharp contrast of the 
pagan ideal of life and the Christian in this respect. On 
one side is the ideal of getting and ruling, on the other that 
of giving and serving. Show this in Jesus' teaching and 
illustrate it from the lesson discussion. 

As regards the second point, note that the average man is 
still far from grasping Jesus' teaching. It is not a question 
of some service, but a matter of the fundamental rule of a 
man's whole life. This is his real life, the giving of himself 
for others. Service is not an incident, but the standpoint from 
which he is to regard his whole life. It is in this that Jesus 
wrought that "reversal of values" which stirred the wrath of 
Nietzsche. The highest ideal of Jesus' day was the Stoic 

45 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

ideal, that of the wise man, strong, calm, poised, sufficient to 
himself in face of good or ill. But life was for Jesus not 
the calm of a philosopher's repose. It was a great venture, 
a venture of faith in which men daringly rested in the mercy 
of God, a venture of love in which men lost themselves in 
service in the life of their fellow men. Christianity is no 
religion of weaklings. Its ideal is one of strength. But its 
strong man is neither the wise man of the Stoics, dwelling 
aloft and alone; nor the superman of Nietzsche, holding others 
down while he climbs his pedestal. He is the man who is 
strong enough not only to mount but to lift up others with 
him. 

The following order of treatment might be used in bringing 
out this truth. 

1. Consider this principle of self-giving, or self-dedication 
to others, as that which Jesus definitely chose for himself, and 
show how his life from its beginning to his death illustrates 
this. 

2. Show how this ideal of Jesus has influenced the thought 
and life of the world. It is a long story, the story of in- 
numerable charities and philanthropies and reforms. It is 
a still longer story of the quiet ministry of humble and for- 
gotten folks in all the common relations which make up our 
real life. There can be no greater tribute to the kingship of 
Jesus than the prevalence of the spirit of service to-day. It 
is not the church alone that shows this, but every department 
of modern life. 

3. Make plain by illustration what this life of service means 
to-day for men individually, for the church, for the state. 

4. Religion has always meant some kind of service, but at 
first it was always a service done to God or to the gods by 
way of sacrifice, ritual, etc. Note the significance of the fact 
with Jesus that service of God means serving men. 

5. Consider the idea of sacrifice, pagan and Christian; on 
the one side the idea of suffering, on the other that of self- 
dedication to a high end; on the one side the way of loss, on 
the other the way of life. 

6. Emphasize the need for even more of the spirit of service 
and sacrifice than has yet existed. We need a leadership 

46 



THE LAW OF SERVICE AND SACRIFICE 

which will both illustrate and declare this law of Jesus. Day 
by day the number is growing of the men of wealth and power 
and position who cannot rest because of their brothers' need, 
and who take "service to others" as their guiding principle. 

Notes and Comments 

The Tomb of Chinese Gordon. — In Saint Paul's Cathedral 
in London, the noble church where so many noble dead are 
buried, there is a tomb that bears these words: 

To Major-General Charles George Gordon: Who at all 
times and everywhere gave his strength to the weak, his 
substance to the poor, his sympathy to the suffering, and 
his heart to God. He saved an empire by his warlike 
genius, he ruled vast provinces with justice, wisdom, 
and power, and lastly, obedient to his sovereign's com- 
mand, he died in the heroic attempt to save men, women, 
and children from imminent and deadly peril. "Greater 
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life 
for his friends." 

How It Works in Life. — Every man has before him living 
examples of Jesus' great law of saving and losing. There is 
the man whose whole life has been a quest for gain, and who 
has held tight to all that ever came his way. Some men envy 
him, but not those who know. His soul has grown steadily 
smaller with the years. He does not know the fine joy of 
giving, the pure friendship of all kinds of people who care 
for you and not for what you have, and the high fellowship 
with God that comes to those who have studied God's great 
purposes and give life and substance to further God's great 
ends. And there is the man, rich perhaps, perhaps of humble 
means, who caught early the secret of Christ. The passing 
years have brought him growing treasures of love and friend- 
ship. He has practiced sympathy with all kinds of men, near 
and far, and he has been gaining that fine culture of the 
human soul which cleverness or knowledge can never give. 
He has studied missions and reforms and the large questions 
of industry and his nation's life, so that he might better give 
himself and his money. And with every gift of time or wealth 
he himself has grown the richer. 

47 



CHAPTER XIV 
THE LAW OF BROTHERHOOD AND THE NATIONS 

In a year of war and in the midst of political strife this 
lesson demands care in the teaching. At the same time it is 
of the highest importance that we apply the teachings of 
Jesus in these very fields. If Jesus be really Lord and Master 
for us, then he must he Lord of all life and teacher in all 
things. 

Avoid the mistake of wresting Jesus' words to meanings 
and uses which were not intended. "Peace I leave with you" 
is not a text to settle disputes about preparedness. "I came 
not to bring peace, but a sword," clearly indicates that the 
highest is not to come without conflict, but it does not settle 
the question of a larger navy. 

In discussing such subjects it is easy to criticize other 
nations, especially in relation to the great war. It is far 
more important for us to see our own needs. Of such high 
patriotism, the prophets of Israel give us a good example. 
They love Israel too much not to condemn her sins, and they 
set their ideal of her so high that they could not be content 
with her failures. 

The general purpose of the teaching should be to give a 
higher ideal for our own land, a truer conception of the 
patriotism that is demanded to-day, and a larger vision of 
the part that America has to play among the nations of the 
earth in bringing in a new reign of righteousness and peace. 

In the plan of teaching, meet first the objection that we 
cannot take the principles of Jesus and apply them to the 
duties of nations. Note that this objection has been made in 
turn as we have tried to apply the same principles to business, 
to problems of labor and capital, and to politics. If the God 
who made this world is good will, as Jesus taught, then love 
is the power that underlies all life and being, and no life on 
this earth can claim another law. 

48 



THE LAW OP BROTHERHOOD AND THE NATIONS 

The Bible references might he taken next, hut the atten- 
tion of the class should he called to the whole teaching about 
Fatherhood and brotherhood as given so far in the course. 

Then take up in order the new nationalism and the new 
internationalism as suggested in the lesson discussion. 

The General Conference Daily Christian Advocate for May 
9, 1916, gives a telling illustration of what Christian patriot- 
ism should not be in a speech of John G. Woolley. He men- 
tions a certain district whose congressman was an associate 
of Lorimer in the work of political corruption. The district 
is a center of Methodist culture and piety, but when this 
man came before the voters at the primaries, of twenty-five 
thousand registered voters only nine hundred came to the 
polls. The nine hundred were not the church people, and 
the candidate was approved. 

Notes and Comments 

As to the Strangers within Our Gates. — The new na- 
tionalism will demand a different treatment for the foreigners 
in our midst. Here is a great test for our own land, as well 
as a great opportunity indirectly to influence and serve other 
lands. For there is a constant travel and interchange of ideas 
between these people and the lands from which they came. 
Nor need we discourage this, for we can make it a great 
highway along which American democratic and Protestant 
ideals may travel to other shores. What now are we doing 
to put these ideals into the life of these folks in our midst? 
A great deal, especially through our public schools, but as 
yet not nearly enough. The church has not done enough, 
and city and state and national government have not done 
enough. Some months ago there was a strike in an Eastern 
city with riot and bloodshed. Investigation discovered cer- 
tain conditions. Here was an industrial suburb of nearly ten 
thousand people, mostly foreigners. Only two or three hun- 
dred voted at elections. There was no night school to teach 
these men English. There were but nine students in the high 
school. It was reported that this community had not one 
church, Protestant or Catholic, in its midst, though there 
were nineteen saloons to help send forth a drink-crazed mob. 

49 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

Two Movements. — Two movements may be taken to illus- 
trate this new international mind. The first is the League 
to Enforce Peace. It is the purpose of this League at the 
close of the present war to unite the nations in a positive 
alliance that shall oppose itself to all war, and restrain any 
nation that goes to war by itself. The second is the World 
Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through the 
Churches, concerning which information may be secured by 
writing to 105 East Twenty-second Street, New York. Its 
purpose is to promote international justice and to further 
good will and friendship among the peoples, through the 
churches of all lands. It began in a conference held in Con- 
stance, Germany, upon the very eve of the war. The two 
movements suggest two lines along which the nations must 
work if a lasting peace is to be secured. Such a peace must 
rest on two pillars. One is that of justice, and for this the 
governments must work together, transcending the old pure 
nationalism, which was selfish. The other pillar is good will, 
and here the churches and all other spiritual forces have their 
great task. 

Diplomacy and the Golden Rule. — 'Whatever the failure 
of the United States may have been in the past, her later 
years have shown an honest desire to follow the principle laid 
down by one of her greatest Secretaries of State, John Hay, 
namely, to follow the Golden Rule in the treatment of other 
nations. We have sent our teachers and other leaders to 
train the Filipinos, and to prepare them for ultimate inde- 
pendence. We have given Cuba her independence when it 
would have been easy to find a pretext for retaining posses- 
sion. In an earlier crisis we stood for the integrity of China 
when her partition seemed imminent, and sent back to her 
the millions of indemnity which did not seem to us our just 
due. 



50 



CHAPTER XV 
THE DISCIPLE AND THE WORLD 

Heke is a lesson which demands wisdom of the teacher, but 
gives an opportunity to bring out some important and 
neglected truths. First of all let us make sure that our spirit 
here is that of Jesus. There is enough class hatred and preju- 
dice; let us not add to it. There is not only jealousy of the 
rich by the poor, but the well-to-do and employing classes 
have often little understanding of what the social unrest 
among the masses means. We need first of all the brother- 
hood and deep humanity of Jesus. 

There is a broader and a narrow aspect of this lesson. Do 
not limit the discussion to the narrower part, the question of 
wealth. The broad question is this: What shall be my atti- 
tude toward this world of natural things, the world about 
us which most men fear and love at the same time? 

First bring out clearly Jesus' view of the world as God's 
world. It was not merely that he thought of it as having 
been made by God, but he knew his Father's presence in it 
and that his Father's power ruled it. This means an attitude 
of confidence and a spirit of peace, if men really believe it. 
And this is what makes anxiety a sin, since it shows a lack 
of real trust in God. 

There is room, then, with Jesus for a simple, wholesome 
enjoyment of the goods and pleasures of life. There are still 
some folks who look with suspicion upon anyone who is hav- 
ing a good time, and especially upon the recreations of young 
people; but wise teachers know that play is a part of educa- 
tion, and that wholesome play is part of a normal life for old 
as well as young. 

The most important point in this lesson, however, is to see 
clearly what Jesus' supreme interest was. The life of men 
with God was his great concern. His words about wealth 

51 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

are not from envy of the rich, or because these earthly things 
seem evil in themselves. He judged everything by its effect 
on this highest interest. He saw that the highest life was 
injured and destroyed by the eager strife for wealth, by men's 
fears concerning earthly goods, and by the possession of 
riches. 

If there is time, take up a final practical question: How 
can we use these gifts of earth to minister to the highest in 
ourselves and in others? 

Notes and Comments 
The Question of Amusements. — The question of amuse- 
ments is one rarely discussed with reference to the funda- 
mental principles at issue. Wholesale denunciation is of no 
value, and misrepresentation of others does only harm. It 
is of little value, too, to attempt to settle such questions by 
laying down rules. The whole method of Jesus, as we have 
seen, was to give men a new spirit and have them live it out. 
But we need to see clearly certain truths and be guided by 
them. 

(1) Play is a normal part of man's nature. Old need it as 
well as young, but it is especially important for the young 
as being a part of their education. It is as necessary, there- 
fore, for us to provide wholesome play as to guard against 
unwholesome. 

(2) True amusement will be recreation, re-creation; it will 
build up. 

(3) Some amusements are bad in themselves. John Wes- 
ley's mother laid down a sound principle when she bade him 
as a young man avoid those amusements which lessened his 
relish for the highest and best. 

(4) Any amusement is bad if taken to excess or out of its 
place. That is perhaps our greatest danger in this matter 
to-day. Wealth has increased, and leisure as well, but in- 
stead of making time and money serve high ends, we have 
become absorbed in the effort to have a good time. The root 
is selfishness; and the end is decay and death. 



52 



CHAPTER XVI 
STEWARDSHIP AND LIFE 

Here is an old theme in attractive form and with great 
possibilities of usefulness. Plan to make it count, not only 
in the teaching, but for the practice of your class and of the 
church. 

The last lesson had to do with a man's thought about the 
world: this has to do with his work in the world. Here are 
two big propositions that underlie the whole lesson: the King- 
dom is God's great aim in the world; cooperation with God 
for the Kingdom is our great work in the world. 

The lesson discussion does not take up the Scripture refer- 
ences in detail. Read them over carefully; do not take up 
minute points, but get their meaning for this present lesson. 

The lesson falls naturally into two parts, and this division 
may be used in your scheme of teaching. 

1. Jesus' teaching about life as a stewardship, or trust. (1) 
All life comes from God. There is no room for pride as if we 
were "self-made." (2) All life belongs to God, ten tenths of 
our income, seven sevenths of our days, our business and not 
simply a part of its proceeds. (3) All life is to be used for 
God, and this, in Jesus' teaching, always means used for men. 
The parable of the talents brings out sharply this responsi- 
bility. The story of the unrighteous steward shows that wis- 
dom and thought are necessary, as well as good intentions. 
Note that there are several passages which emphasize truth 
as a trust, and confession and proclamation as a duty. 

2. Practical applications, Jesus gives few of these. About 
the only way to give in his day was to the temple and to 
the poor. Think how many there are in our own day. We 
must, therefore, not limit ourselves to the illustrations in 
the Gospels, but apply the principles of Jesus to our rich 
modern life. We shall find that they are just what we need. 

53 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

Only we must apply them far more broadly than we have 
done. The broad outline of these applications is given in 
the lesson discussion. Follow the outline, but find your own 
illustrations. 

The best result of this lesson will be if you can get the 
members of your class for themselves to adopt a stewardship 
program. Ask them individually to decide and to write down: 
what proportion of their income they will give; what definite 
tasks they will take up in the church; what lines of service 
in the community; what change, if any, they may need to 
make in their business if God is to be a full partner. This 
should be only for a man's own eye. 

Notes and Comments 

Making Money for God. — Alpheus Hardy was a merchant 
prince who made giving a part of his business. How it came 
about he once told to a friend as follows: "I wanted to go to 
college and become a minister. My health broke down, and 
in spite of my determined hope of being able to go on, at 
last the truth was forced upon me that I could not. 

"When the fact at last became certain to me one morning — 
alone in my room — my distress was so great that I threw 
myself flat on the floor. The voiceless cry of my soul was, 
'O God, I cannot be thy minister.' Then there came to me as 
I lay a vision, a new hope, a perception that I could serve 
God in business with the same devotion as in preaching, and 
that to make money for God might be my sacred calling. 

"From that time I have felt myself as much appointed and 
ordained to make money for God as if I had been permitted 
to carry out my own plan and been ordained to preach the 
gospel. I am God's man, and the ministry to which God has 
called me is to make and administer money for him, and I 
consider myself responsible to discharge this ministry and 
to give account of it to him." 

The Jew as a Giver. — The men of the Christian Church 
to-day give nowhere near the amount that the pious Jew of 
old did. Two tithes were referred to in the Old Testament 
law, coming from different codes, but both taken as valid by 
the strict Jew (Numbers 18. 20-32; Deuteronomy 14. 22-26). 

54 



STEWARDSHIP AND LIFE 

Deuteronomy 14. 28, 29 provided for still another tithe to he 
given every third year, in which year the Jew thus gave a 
third of his income. In addition to all this there were very 
large freewill offerings. 

A Rich Man on Wealth. — "Great wealth is not to he de- 
sired, and in my experience of life it is generally more of a 
curse than a blessing to the families who possess it. Six 
of my children are of an age to understand how my action 
affects them, and they all entirely approve." This was said 
by George Cadbury, famous maker of chocolate in England, 
after giving the bulk of his property outside his business for 
a philanthropic trust. 

The Duty of Simplicity. — Simple living and moderate 
spending upon oneself and family is one of the ways in which 
men of means can serve their community. Extravagance and 
display cause envy and bitterness, provoke others to spend 
beyond their means, and are a violation of our trust from 
God. Above all should there be simplicity of dress within the 
Christian Church. 



55 



CHAPTER XVII 
THE KINGDOM AS A GIFT AND A GOOD 

It is a common custom of men to take out of the sayings 
of Jesus that which supports their own views or is in agree- 
ment with them, or else to read into his words their own 
ideas. And this is done with no intention of violence or 
dishonesty. We shall need special care at this point in the 
lessons that follow on the Kingdom. 

As we draw near the end of the course it is important to 
bring out again and again the fact that the teachings of Jesus 
have one common source. They do not hang together be- 
cause he had a system of doctrine and taught this systemati- 
cally. Their common source is rather in his faith. It is his 
thought of God and his life as Son with the Father from which 
all springs. 

In this first lesson on the Kingdom go back to Jesus' teach- 
ing about God and show how the Kingdom hope roots in this, 
how his thought of God's love and God's power gives him the 
assurance that the Kingdom will come. 

At the beginning of the lesson bring out clearly the idea 
of the Kingdom as meaning kingship, or rule. In the Aramaic 
which Jesus spoke, as in the Greek, the word translated king- 
dom may mean either the realm or the rule.. The Jews 
thought primarily of a realm* a political kingdom which 
should be theirs. Jesus thinks primarily of a rule, and 
secondarily of the place or the people over whom this rule 
was to be. 

It will add to the interest to test this idea by reading in 
class various passages that speak of the Kingdom and sub- 
stituting the word "rule" or "kingship." The question is not 
whether this is the only meaning, but whether this is the 
fundamental meaning with Jesus. 

The rule of God is the highest good of men — that idea 

56 



THE KINGDOM AS A GIFT AND A GOOD 

underlies this lesson. Show how this idea depends upon 
Jesus' conception of God. If God is such a God as Jesus 
portrayed, his only wish for us is our highest good, and then 
his rule will be the supreme blessing. 

This will of God Jesus taught his disciples to set first in 
their asking and their seeking. Do we feel that way? Is that 
the word that represents our supreme desire for the world, 
for our loved ones, for ourselves? 

Notes and Comments 

As to the Parable of the Teeasuee. — Is it fair for a man 
who has found a treasure in a field, to purchase that field 
without betraying this fact to the owner, as was evidently 
the case in the parable of the treasure? Jesus does not con- 
sider this question at all himself. As in the case of the un- 
righteous steward, the character of the man does not enter 
in. Jesus has just one point that he wishes to bring out here, 
the supreme value of the Kingdom, beside which all other 
things may well be sacrificed. 

The Dominant Note Religious. — The dominant note in 
Jesus' message of the Kingdom is the religious note, and 
this needs reemphasis in our day. We shall turn in the next 
chapter to the thought of the Kingdom as ethical, as a task 
for men. That we must not lose. But we need an access of 
that joyous confidence of Jesus which rested not upon man's 
deed, but upon God's love and power. The fight for righteous- 
ness and peace will not last long, the courage and devotion 
will not long endure, unless we realize that a power greater 
than we is engaged, that the stars in their courses are fighting 
against Sisera. Such a faith should not lead to idleness, but 
should be a mighty spur to action. So it was with Jesus. So 
it was with Luther, as his great battle hymn shows. 

Othee Meanings. — Our study of the Kingdom of God will 
show other meanings besides that which we have considered 
in this chapter. In some passages it seems to mean the com- 
pany of the sons of the Kingdom, and in others the place or 
state of that final life to which God is to bring his own. But 
for the most part it remains true, that the Kingdom is the 
rule of God, which as such is the highest good of man. 

57 



CHAPTER XVIII 
THE KINGDOM AS A TASK 

The teaching of Jesus as contained in this lesson is simple. 
Underlying it, however, is a principle of the utmost impor- 
tance in the Christian religion, and that should he made 
clear to the class. To do this is the main purpose of this 
lesson. The principle is that of the relation of the moral and 
the religious in tha teaching of Jesus. It may be stated thus: 
every gift of God is a task, every task of God is a gift. Some 
people think of the Kingdom only as a gift; we are to pray 
for it and wait for it and God some time will give it. For 
some people the Kingdom is simply a task; we are to make 
the world better, we are to bring in the reign of righteous- 
ness and peace. Each side is true in what it states, but wrong 
in what it omits. 

A simple plan of teaching would be to consider in order 
the teaching, the principle, the application. 

As to the teaching, review briefly our study of the Kingdom 
as a gift. Now note the other words of Jesus. They are con- 
tained in our Scripture references, in the passages cited in 
the lesson discussion, and in other sayings of Jesus which 
the class may recall. Here it is clear that the Kingdom is 
not simply something for which we are quietly to wait, but 
something to be sought and seized, something for which we 
are to deny ourselves, something which belongs to those who 
serve and obey and live. This does not mean that it is to 
be earned, as the Jews thought. It is all God's grace, but 
the gift of God carries a task, demands a surrender, involves 
a life. 

Now make plain the principle, what God gives to men is 
life, and life is something which we possess only as we live it. 
Take one after the other the things that make up life: free- 
(dom, truth, love, righteousness, faith. These belong to men 

58 



THE KINGDOM AS A TASK 

only as they give themselves to them, as they act upon them, i 
God will give his Kingdom when we are ready to live his 
Kingdom; his giving and our living must go hand in hand. 

The practical applications of this are, first of all, individual. 
On one side our Christian life and experience are the gift of 
God. On this side it is our duty to trust God and leave it to 
him. Too many people here make the mistake of insisting 
that God shall give his gifts in a particular manner, with just 
this feeling and that experience. That belongs to him. It 
is not our business to be trying to get experiences; it is our 
duty to trust him utterly and to leave it with him. On the 
other side the Christian life is our task. We are to trust 
God to give the life, but we must then go ahead to live the 
life just so far as he gives it. That is our special business, 
and we must not fail there. Is the rule of God working out 
in our life? 

In the next chapter we shall take up some of the social 
applications and meanings of this rule of God. To-day as 
never before Christian men are asking, "What does the rule 
of God mean in business, in government, in the life of the 
nations? Can we have a Christian world, and what kind of a 
world will that be?" Let us think on these questions. 

Notes and Comments 
Sanctification as God's Gift and Man's Task. — The doc- 
trine of sanctification is one of the places where men have 
often separated the task from the gift. Paul is the great 
New Testament teacher on this theme, and he shows plainly 
how the two belong together. It is God who makes men holy 
through the gifts of his Spirit, and yet this becoming holy 
(or, better stated, becoming Christlike) is man's task also. 
The Spirit of God is a gift to be received and a life to be 
lived. No man can have this gift except as he lives this life. 
God's saving of man is moral and spiritual, not mechanical. ( \ } 
It is not something that he does to us, but with us. "Work 
out your own salvation, ... for it is God that worketh in 
you" (Philippians 2. 12). Paul's use of the word "walk" is 
interesting. The word indicates activity. Paul uses it in 
connection with the Holy Spirit, with love, with Christ. In 

59 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

every case we have a gift of God which means duty and ac- 
tivity for men. We are to "walk in newness of life," "in the 
Spirit," "in love," "in Christ Jesus the Lord" (Rom. 6. 4; 
Gal. 5. 16; Eph. 5. 2; Col. 2. 6). There is no part of the 
Christian life which is not at the same time a gift to he 
received and a work to he done. 

The Rule of God in a Man's Life. — The biggest question 
that can face any Christian man is to find out what the rule 
of God means for his life, and then to live it out. Every day 
should begin with the prayer, "Thy kingdom come," with 
the deep sense of our dependence upon God and with the confi- 
dence that God will give. But side by side with this must go 
the other prayer, "Thy will be done." What does this king- 
dom mean for my home? What does God's rule mean in my 
business? Is the way in which I spend my money a part of 
the kingdom of God? Does his rule shape my plans? 



60 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE KINGDOM AS INWARD AND OUTWARD 

There is danger that this idea of the Kingdom may become 
confusing to our classes as we discuss these various aspects. 
It may be well, therefore, by way of introduction to make 
clear certain points: 

(1) Go back to the simple definition with which we began 
— the Kingdom of God means the rule of God. In all our 
discussions it is well to turn back to this again and again. 

(2) Show how rich this idea was for Jesus. For him God 
was the one great reality and the one great good. The rule 
of God therefore meant everything for him. In that word 
he summed up all that he asked of men now, all that he 
hoped of God for the future. We must not wonder then at 
the many things that he said about it. 

(3) In the brief review, show how the various aspects of 
the Kingdom that we have studied so far all come out of this 
great thought of the rule of God. It is something that God 
is to give, for which we are to pray and hope. It is the 
greatest good that can come to us; it means nothing less 
than God himself in us and in his world, and that includes 
forgiveness, and freedom, and life. But it is also a task for 
us, a rule from within and not from without, and so a life 
for us to live out and a work to do. 

This prepares us for our present lesson. We come here 
to one of the subjects of controversy which needs clear think- 
ing and an honest desire to understand others. Begin by 
stating in extreme form the opposing positions, on the one 
side the emphasis upon the "spiritual," on the other the 
demand for the social. 

Make clear first of all that the Kingdom with Jesus is a 
spiritual fact. Consider the things which he emphasizes as 
discussed in the lesson: righteousness, humility, love, the 
spirit of a child. Quite as significant is the silence of Jesus, 

61 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

the matters of which he did not speak. He did not speak of 
state and politics, of triumph of arms, of Roman rule. This 
is the more significant because they were uppermost in the 
minds of his countrymen. 

Now consider the second group of Scripture passages and 
what they imply. Bring out the different lines which lead 
to the same conclusion: 

(1) Jesus' thought of God demands that his rule shall 
some time be over all things. 

(2) When we consider the kind of "spiritual" for which 
Jesus stood, it points the same way. It is a spirit that must 
work out in love and service, and above all in righteousness. 

(3) Finally, when we see the way in which that spirit 
worked even while Jesus was here upon earth, we note how 
it began immediately to bind men together. The end can 
be nothing less than a whole humanity redeemed and bound 
together in one family, living under the laws of good will 
and righteousness not only in family and church, but also in 
business and state. 

Find time, if possible, for a little study of the meaning of 
social service. Write to the Methodist Federation for Social 
Service or to the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ 
in America, 105 East 22d Street, New York. Get a copy of the 
great declaration of social principles made by the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in its last General Conference at Saratoga 
Springs (Discipline, If 586). The last is perhaps the strongest 
and finest declaration of social principles and ideals ever set 
forth by any church. Ask the class these questions: Should 
not the spirit of Christ rule all the life of all men? Should 
not we as Christian men work definitely and avowedly to have 
that will done in our community, in our industry, in our 
nation, and among the nations? And finally, ask definitely 
what there is in your community, in its recreation, in its 
business, in its politics, in matters of health and cleanliness, 
in which the will of Christ is not being done? What, then, 
can your class do? 

Notes and Comments 

The Kingdom Is Larger than the Church. — Roman Ca- 

62 



THE KINGDOM AS INWARD AND OUTWARD 

tholicism very early identified the Kingdom of God with the 
idea of the church, and this idea has not been without influ- 
ence in Protestantism (see hymn 208, Methodist Hymnal, 
written by the elder Timothy Dwight, president of Yale). 
There is an element of truth here, for the first and truest 
manifestation of the Kingdom will be the fellowship of those 
who~ljOYe God and serve men. There are, however, two dan- 
gers here. The first is that men will think of the visible 
church, the organization with its officials, rather than the 
fellowship of disciples. The second is that men will fail to 
see the rule of God that lies without the church as such. 
Wherever God's will is being done, there is his rule. Wher- 
ever there is truth and right, wherever there is love and 
service, there is his kingdom. Where citizens join together 
to secure better government, there i s the rule of God. Where 
laboring men rise above mere individual interests, and seek 
by united effort to check child labor and long hours for 
women, or to secure better conditions and fairer wages, there 
the Kingdom of God is being furthered. The same is true 
in non-Christian lands where even the name of Jesus may 
not be known. So far as men know truth and love and 
righteousness in those lands, so far God's rule is present, and 
so far there is preparation for the complete rule of God as 
set forth in the Spirit of Christ. 



CHAPTER XX 
THE KINGDOM AS PRESENT AND FUTURE 

This chapter is one that gives opportunity for differences 
of opinion and may lead to controversy. It will be well to 
begin with the words of Jesus so far as they bear on this. 
Ask the class to consider these words carefully, and to draw 
conclusions only when all have been studied. 

Take up first the passages which speak of the Kingdom 
as that which is to come. That the Kingdom is at hand means 
not that it is here, but that it is very near. 

Now consider the passages which imply that the Kingdom 
is already present. These are of very deep interest. Some 
of them, like Luke 10. 18, suggest that it came to Jesus as 
a kind of joyful surprise to realize that the beginnings of the 
Kingdom were already here. How he rejoices and thanks 
his Father when he realizes how the poor and sinful are 
pressing into the Kingdom! (Matthew 11. 25.) 

The solution to our question, then, is that the Kingdom 
is both present and to come. It is true that only the begin- 
nings are here now. It is like the tiny mustard seed, but it 
shall in due time become the great tree. 

Every question concerning the Kingdom leads back to the 
underlying question, What do we mean by the Kingdom? 
Sometimes it may be advantageous to make a brief review 
in the middle of the lesson discussion, instead of at the be- 
ginning, where it may be formal and uninteresting. Do not 
call it a review, and do not go over all the lessons on the 
Kingdom, but recall the discussions about the nature of the 
Kingdom. It is the rule of God, God's kingship. Yes, but 
what kind of a rule, within or without, political or spiritual? 
Is it an institution, or is it a life in men? We have answered: 
the rule of God is the will of God being done in men. It 

64 



THE KINGDOM AS PRESENT AND FUTURE 

means a new spirit ("God is spirit") dwelling in men, and 
working out from within till it rules all the life of the earth. 

From this standpoint the question of present and future 
is answered. Living things do not come all at once; they 
grow. We say of them, "They are here"; but we can also say, 
"They are yet to come." The boy is here, but the man is yet 
to come. Especially is this true of the spiritual. The choice 
of a moment makes a man a Christian, but it takes the years 
to make him really a Christ-man. That is what Paul means 
when he says, "I count not myself yet to have laid hold." 
The Kingdom of God in the world is not different from God's / \ 
kingdom in a man. If this last is a moral and spiritual life, 
then the first must be such also. 

The question of the millennium is a controversial question 
that is better kept in the minor place where it belongs. Settle 
once for all the fact that the Kingdom_of_God is moral and 
spiritual, and it follows that it must come in moral and 
spiritual ways. Of course the Kingdom of God will not be 
present until our business and politics are under God's rule 
as well as our prayer meetings, but in these also the rule 
must come by the working of moral and spiritual forces. 



65 



CHAPTER XXI 
THE FORMS AND INSTITUTIONS OF RELIGION 

The full title of this chapter might be, "The Place of Forms 
and Institutions in a Religion of the Spirit." In a lesson like 
this, which takes up fundamental questions, it is especially 
important to make clear the real subject, as well as the out- 
line of the treatment. 

Here is the problem to be treated in this lesson: The reli- 
gion of Jesus is a pure religion of the spirit; what, then, is 
the place of form and institution in it? Bring out clearly 
and in order the following points: 

1. Jesus taught a religion of the spirit. Ask the class to 
give you definitions of religion according to Jesus. As they 
speak of love and faith and obedience and good will and 
righteousness, point out that these all refer to the inner 
spirit of man, and not to doctrines or ritual or the relation 
to the church. 

2. Note, on the other hand, that all life must have forms 
in which to express itself. Especially is that true of a social 
religion like Christianity, which brings men together for 
worship and fellowship and work. 

3. Consider the attitude of Jesus toward forms in his own 
day. (1) Commonly he was indifferent to them; his disciples 
did not fast nor observe the many washings nor keep the 
Sabbath rules. (2) Sometimes he was severely critical. Note 
the reference in the discussion to the criticism of the Phari- 
sees, and the passage in the Sermon on the Mount as re- 
ferred to in the Notes and Comments. Compare Jesus with 
the prophets here. (3) And yet Jesus had regard for both 
institutions and forms, for synagogue, for temple, for Sab- 
bath, for John's baptism, for the passover. 

4. What is the Christian position in regard to institutions 
and forms? They are not the substance of religion, but the 

66 



THE FORMS AND INSTITUTIONS OP RELIGION 

servants of religion. When they take the first place they 
become a danger and have been a source of divisions in Chris- 
tianity. 

The second part of the lesson has to do with various Chris- 
tian forms and institutions. On all these points there has 
been endless dispute in the past. The purpose of the lesson 
is not to encourage such dispute. If there are differences of 
opinion on the various matters considered, that will do no 
harm. The important point is to show that there is a posi- 
tion which lifts us above such differences. If these forms are 
the essence of the Christian religion, then it is of vital impor- 
tance, for example, that the form of baptism should be just 
one way and the form of church organization after the one 
correct pattern. If, as we hold, these are means and not ends, 
then the one important thing to ask is, do they express the 
life of the spirit and minister to it? Do they help religion 
or hinder it? 

Notes and Comments 

As to Fasting. — As regards fasting itself, there is no place 
where Jesus enjoins it. In Matthew 6. 17 he simply tells 
men how to fast if they will. His disciples he defends for 
not fasting (Mark 2. 19). Two other references to fasting 
found in the Authorized Version (Matt. 17. 21 and Mark 
9. 29), in which fasting and prayer are joined together, do 
not occur in the earliest manuscripts. Both are therefore 
omitted from the Revised Version. 

The Purpose of Sabbath, Sunday, and Lord's Day. — Jesus' 
position, that the welfare of man is the purpose and end of 
the Jewish Sabbath, applies also to the Christian Lord's Day. 
Exodus 23. 12 is held by scholars to be the oldest form in 
which the Sabbath law is given in the Old Testament. It 
is significant that the thought suggested here is not of some- 
thing given to God or done tor God, but of an institution that 
is for man's welfare and for that of his beasts: "That thine 
ox and thine ass may have rest, and the son of thy handmaid, 
and the sojourner, may be refreshed." The same broad 
humanitarian motive appears in the law as given in Deu- 
teronomy 5. 12-15. In modern legislation by the state we 

67 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

have come back to this principle. So far as the state is con- 
cerned, Sunday legislation is not to assert or defend one 
religious view against another; it is to defend the right 
of men to physical rest and to that leisure which is needed 
for the highest life of the individual and the home. The 
thoughtlessness and greed of men make such legislation espe- 
cially important to-day. All this, however, does not express 
the principal meaning of the Christian day, the Lord's Day. 
The mark of the Jewish Sabbath was absence of labor, the 
Lord's Day had its beginning in the need for worship and 
Christian fellowship. The test of the day is the way in which 
it builds up this higher life. That is far more than mere 
abstinence from labor. 

The Use of Forms in Worship. — The question of forms of 
worship has often been hotly debated in the Christian Church, 
and the practice has varied from the most elaborate liturgy, 
prescribing the garb of the priest and every word and posture, 
to the simple worship of an old-fashioned Friends' meeting- 
house. The writer calls to mind two such opposed services, 
one in a little meetinghouse of orthodox Friends in the Middle 
West, the other a service conducted by a Baptist minister in 
a Congregational church and using the full liturgy of the 
Church of England. But the little company out West and 
the great congregation in London were filled with the same 
spirit of devout worship, stirring the heart of the visitor and 
lifting him toward God. From the standpoint of Jesus the 
whole question of form in worship is this, "Does it quicken 
the spirit and help men to express what is in them?" The 
answer will be different with different congregations and 
different individuals. The so-called "free worship" may be 
slovenly, irreverent, and as perfunctory as the use of any 
ritual. The form, on the other hand, may be filled with the 
spirit of sincerity and devoutness. 



CHAPTER XXII 
JESUS' CONCEPTION OF HIS MISSION 

Looking back, it is not hard to see what Jesus accomplished. 
But no man can tell the whole story of that deed, for in the 
first place the deed is so great, and in the second place it is 
not yet finished. How did Jesus conceive the purpose of his 
life? What did he feel that he was sent to do? 

It might he well at the beginning to call upon members 
of the class for answers to these questions. Ask them to 
support their answers by reference either to some saying of 
Jesus, or to what he did. Back of these many answers, can 
we find one great purpose that will include them all? It is 
not necessary that we should all give this great purpose in 
the same language. The important point is that we make it 
large enough. Refuse to accept general answers. Some one 
says: "He came to redeem the world." What do you mean 
by redeem? Do you mean simply to save from the penalty 
of sin? To save from hell and bring to heaven? And what 
do you mean by the world? Do you mean a few saints who 
are to be carried to the skies? Or do you mean that all the 
life of this world is to be filled with the life of God? That is 
what we have been discussing as the Kingdom of God. 

If this was Jesus' great purpose, what did he come to do 
in order to fulfill it? Thus we come to "the work of Christ." 
Here is a fine opportunity to fill with life and meaning some 
old doctrines that have grown empty and meaningless for 
many people. There are certain goals that the teacher might 
well set for himself in teaching this lesson: 

1. Make clear that the life and work of Christ are one. 
His life was not a preliminary to his death. His death has 
no virtue apart from his life. His work was one work from 
the beginning. All that he did bore upon the one end, and 
all was necessary to it. Through it all, in life as in death, 
there was the same spirit of love to men and loyalty to God. 

69 



TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

2. Make clear that his work was varied, and that every 
part of it was necessary. What would his death have meant 
had not his message preceded it? And what would his mes- 
sage of love for men and faith in God have been without 
that life of service and unselfish devotion and absolute trust 
and obedience? And then consider how his death completed 
all that went before. Here he showed his supreme faith in 
God, here was seen the final proof of his loyal devotion, and 
here men have ever seen an evidence of love that cannot be 
gainsaid. 

3. Turning away from elaborate doctrines of the atonement, 
try to make the death of Christ the rich and vital fact that 
it is. Show how all his life led to it and would have been 
incomplete without it. Show how it filled the mind and the 
heart of the early church. Then ask the members of the 
class, not for their theories about it, but for what the death 
of Christ means for their thought and in their life. 

Notes and Comments 

Not to Be Litebalized. — The words of Jesus concerning 
his death have often been misused by being literalized. The 
great truth in his picture of the ransom was that he was 
redeeming men from the slavery of sin at a great cost. Press 
these words too far and you at once get into difficulties. To 
whom was the ransom paid? To Satan? So it was once held, 
but we repudiate the thought. To God? How can that be, 
since Jesus is redeeming men not from God but for God? The 
same fault lies with the theories that imply that Jesus' death 
did something to God or paid something to him so that he 
would or could forgive men. It was not God that Jesus 
needed to move, but men. The most precious fact of our 
faith is that it is the love and purpose of God which appear 
in the cross; "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto 
himself." There was no need to placate an angry God or to 
pay off an account or to suffer a fixed penalty which some 
one had to bear. The forgiving God was ready. But man 
was not, and it is the love of Jesus Christ that went into 
death that has wrought in men penitence for sin, faith in 
God, and the devotion of a new life. 

70 



CHAPTER XXIII 
JESUS' CONCEPTION OF HIS PERSON 

Note that the subject of this chapter is not the church's 
doctrine concerning Jesus, but what Jesus thought and taught 
of himself. It is well to make this plain first before we go on, 
at the close, to speak of anything else. 

We have here one of the richest lessons of our course. It 
will repay the most careful study and it should quicken the 
most eager thought. On the one hand, note how little Jesus 
says of himself and especially how little he asks for himself, 
how unassumingly he begins his work, how humbly he carries 
it on as a plain man among men and as the servant of other 
men. On the other hand, note the astonishing claims that 
are contained in some of the words that he speaks in a mat- 
ter-of-fact manner. What should we think of a man who said 
things like that to-day? 

Begin now with what was deepest in Jesus' own life and 
experience. Remember that we are studying this from his 
own standpoint. Show how simple this fact of sonship was 
as seen in the temple visit story, or as revealed in such a 
prayer as that in Gethsemane. Here he stands right by our 
side. We are to feel that way, pray that way. Then note 
how high this sonship leads, and how it sets him apart from 
us as well as joins him to us. Do not go too far in trying 
to understand this as metaphysics. Keep it in the plane of 
religion and of experience. The highest word that Jesus 
speaks about his sonship does not try to set forth the hidden 
mysteries of God's inner being, but is joined to the thought 
of his work for men. The way to understand Jesus as Son 
of God is to know him as the one who shows God and brings 
God. 

That brings us naturally to the consideration of Jesus as 
Saviour. There are three profitable questions to consider: 

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TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

(1) What place did this thought have in Jesus' own mind? 
Note what he says about the purpose of his coming, and show 
how his life from beginning to end illustrates this. 

(2) What did he do for the men of his time, especially for 
his disciples, which makes him Saver, or Saviour? Do not 
be content with general expressions, but take specific in- 
stances. What did he do, for example, for Peter? 

(3) What does he do for men to-day, for society? 

In natural order now we come to Jesus as Master. Why 
did Jesus assert his authority? Why did he demand that 
men listen to his word? Why did he make their acceptance 
of his message the thing that should decide their life? Why 
did he demand that they leave all and follow him, that they 
give up all for him? None of these things he asked for his 
own sake, or simply because he held himself as Lord of men. 
He was first of all the servant and Saver of men, and that 
was why he asked these things. Just because he was Saviour, 
because he had the truth and the life for men, he was the 
Lord of men. 

Notes and Comments 

How to Present Jesus To-Day. — It is of the greatest im- 
portance that we do not forget the method of Jesus. Too 
often the church has held before men a doctrine of Christ, and 
has said, Accept this, believe this. But no man becomes a 
follower of Jesus by saying "Lord, Lord," by calling him 
Son of God, or by repeating any creed or accepting a doctrine. 
To demand this is often to put a stumblingblock in the way 
of children, and to keep men from Jesus himself. It is ours 
rather to set Jesus before men, to show them his life, his 
spirit, his word; to follow the writers of our Gospels whose 
great ambition seems to have been not to describe Jesus or 
explain him or put him in a doctrine, but to let him live and 
speak before men. Set him forth in this way and men will 
see in him the love and the life of God, and will say at last, 
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." And such 
faith Jesus wants, the faith of the heart that trusts and of 
the will that obeys. 



72 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE CHARACTER OF JESUS AS SEEN IN HIS RELATION 
TO MEN AND TO HIS WORK 

A man's character is seen in his relation to men, to his 
world and work, to God, and to himself. We are taking two 
lessons for this great theme, and are taking two of these rela- 
tions in each lesson. These lessons should accomplish at 
least two things: 

(1) Make your class see that Jesus is the greatest asset of 
Christianity, that he himself is greater than any word of his, 
than any deed in which he revealed himself, and that there 
can be no higher study in Christianity than Christ. 

(2) Bring out the meaning of Jesus' character for our own 
life. There is that in the character of Jesus which lifts him 
above us, but the most important study, after all, is to ask 
what his life means for us. There have been times when 
men talked a great deal about what Christ did for them, 
about the doctrine of justification and salvation by grace, 
but forgot to ask earnestly enough what Christ meant when 
they went out to live. That is our great problem to-day. 

We cannot take up all the qualities of Jesus' character in 
relation to men in so brief a space. If time permits, ask 
the class to speak of other aspects of his character; only see 
that the next lesson is not anticipated. 

In treating the friendliness of Jesus, emphasize its human 
character. There are men who seem to have a "genius for 
friendship." They are sympathetic, interested in their fel- 
lows, loyal to those whom they love. Count up these qualities, 
then note that all these in purest form are in Jesus, and much 
more. Note how men were drawn to him, not simply as the 
great Teacher and Healer, but as a man, a friend. 

As friend, Jesus seems more a man with men. In his love 
and pity we see him still close to his fellows and yet at the 

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TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

same time more like some great spirit of strength and divine 
compassion, taking the burdens of all the weak upon himself. 

The loneliness of Jesus is a most suggestive theme. We 
have two great duties here: we must stand with men, and we 
must know how to stand by ourselves. Note how many men 
run to extremes here. Some stand aloof from their fellows, 
are selfish and individualistic. Some do not seem to know 
how to be friendly. Others let their sympathies run into 
weakness. They cannot bear to stand against others, to 
sacrifice the good will or kindly feeling of their fellows. How 
perfect Jesus was in both, without sacrifice of either to the 
other! "Severity" may be the wrong word here. Make plain 
how the very love and loyalty of Jesus, his loyalty to men 
as well as to God, sometimes compelled such words. Are we 
ever false because we do not dare to seem unkind? On the 
other hand, are men not sometimes censorious, unjust, even 
violent, while they claim to be following Jesus in denouncing 
sin? One must have the utterly unselfish love and good will 
of Jesus before he can safely exercise the severity of Jesus. 

We have not made enough of the loyalty of Jesus in study- 
ing his character. Can anything take the place in life of this 
simple steadfastness in right and service? How it sustained 
and guided him! How near to us he comes in those conflicts 
where he faces this question of loyalty to his Father's will! 
On the other hand, note that this obedient will of his was 
not something cold and calculating, not a mere matter of a 
determined will. The will of God was the supreme passion 
of his life. Is that true of us? 



74 



CHAPTER XXV 

THE CHARACTER OP JESUS AS SEEN IN HIS PERSONAL 
LIFE AND RELATION WITH GOD 

Here again is a theme full of inspiration and profit. It is 
important to avoid mere general statements. Make the lesson 
concrete by continually calling for instances and illustrations 
from the Gospels to support what is said of Jesus' character. 
Make it practical by continual reference to our own life and 
needs. 

The great task of Jesus was to lead men into the life of 
sonship. To this end his great means was his own life in 
which he set forth what it meant to be a son. We must never 
forget that he had problems and temptations here as we have. 

Let the class bring out any other qualities that have to do 
with Jesus' life with his Father. The praying of Jesus may 
well be considered here. Nothing illustrates so clearly and 
wonderfully his dependence upon God, his temptations and 
struggles, and at the same time the victory of his spirit. We 
need to study this again and again in order to quicken in us 
the sense of our need of prayer. If he needed thus to pray, 
how much more do we? 

In studying the purity, or sinlessness, of Jesus, note this 
very remarkable fact: The synoptic Gospels do not assert his 
sinlessness or explain it, and yet it is perfectly clear as a 
part of their picture of Jesus. It was not invented by them, 
but was in the life which they set forth. 

Our special emphasis should be, however, on the positive- 
ness of Jesus' character. It is so easy for religious folks to 
put the emphasis upon the negative; it is so much harder in 
life to make our righteousness positive. That is the note 
with Jesus. His goodness was a goodness that counted. Are 
there any "good" folks in your community that do not count 
much when the fight is on against any great evil? 

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TEACHER'S MANUAL FOR THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS 

Because the spirit of Jesus was wholesome it was also 
attractive. He made goodness lovable and beautiful. Earnest 
men sometimes become a little unbalanced. Jesus was the 
most earnest man of all time, but he was also the sanest and 
best balanced. Of course some people thought him un- 
balanced, but that was just because they put lesser things in 
the place of the high values of life which moved him to action. 

Nothing more clearly and strikingly reveals the complete- 
ness and perfectness of the character of Jesus than the fact 
that he has been the inspiration of all men and of all times. 
Bismarck could never have been a typical American. Lincoln 
belongs to this land and to the day in which he lived. But 
every man of any age who once really sees the spirit of Jesus 
Christ says, "That is the man that I ought to be." 

Notes and Comments 

The Self-Restraint of Jesus. — Nowhere is the moral power 
and the positiveness of Jesus' character better seen than in 
his self-mastery. Notably is that evident in his silence before 
Pilate (Mark 15. 2-5). Another and equally striking aspect 
is set forth in the lines of Richard Chenevix Trench: 

"He might have reared a palace at a word 
Who sometimes had not where to lay his head. 
Time was when he who nourished crowds with bread 
Would not one meal unto himself afford. 
He healed another's scratch; his own side bled, 
Side, feet, and hands with cruel piercings gored. 
Twelve legions girded with angelic sword 
Stood at his beck, the scorned and buffeted. 
O wonderful, the wonders left undone, 
And scarce less wonderful than those he wrought! 
O self-restraint surpassing human thought, 
To have all power, yet be as having none! 
O self-denying love that thought alone 
For needs of others, never for its own!" 

Jesus Gives the Final Ideal. — The problem of conduct 
and character is as old as the conscience of man. There are 

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HIS PERSONAL LIFE AND RELATION WITH GOD 

two underlying questions here that concern us all: What 
ought I to be? How can I attain it? The first is the question 
of the moral ideal, the second that of moral power. Jesus 
gives the answer to both. His character, as we have studied 
it, is the world's final answer to the question as to what man 
should be. Other teachers have given rules and precepts. 
Jesus lived a life. He did not add new rules, but he took old 
words and gave them a new and richer meaning by his life. 
He has taught us the real meaning of love and righteousness, 
of purity and humility. He has changed these from mere 
words to a glorious ideal. He has set forth their meaning in 
a life so simple that a child may read, so lofty that it still 
shines far ahead of all our human endeavor, and yet so human 
that little child and aged saint alike may strive toward it. 
The glory of Christianity is not a new law, but this supreme 
Life. 

Jesus Answers the Question of Power. — The question of 
power follows close upon that of the ideal. Here is the final 
test. To look up to the ideal life is one matter, to become 
like it is another. That is why men call Jesus not simply 
Teacher, but Master and Saviour, because he gives men this 
power of a new life. He does it as he did of old. He, the 
Son, leads men into sonship with God. He brings them to 
penitence and desire, and then teaches them to give them- 
selves wholly to God in a great obedient trust. And so he 
comes to men, not as an example above them, but as a spirit 
and life within them. 



77 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE HEART OP JESUS' MESSAGE— A REVIEW 

A review may be one of the most tiresome of lessons or one 
of the most interesting and fruitful. To try to go over the 
whole text at one time would bring the former result. The 
plan is therefore suggested of grouping all the lessons around 
three main points: the Christian faith in God according to 
Jesus, the Christian life, and the Christian hope. 

I. The Christian Faith According to Jesus. Note that the 
heart of Jesus' work as a teacher was here. He had great 
confidence, and he brought that confidence to men. Nominally 
only one chapter is given to this subject (III) ; actually it 
runs through the whole course; the last chapters on the per- 
son and character of Jesus bear especially upon it. Bring 
out the truth here that the final word for us about what God 
is, is given us in what Jesus was. 

Do not be content to bring out what Jesus taught about 
God. Show what this faith meant in his own life. Finally 
show what this faith means for us when it becomes as real 
as it was for him. If possible, get expressions from members 
of the class. What does this faith mean in your life? Has 
this study of Jesus' teaching about God given you any new 
vision of truth? Where has it helped you? 

II. Jesus' Teaching About the Christian Life. Note that 
Chapters V to IX concern the life with God, Chapters X to 
XVI deal mainly with man's life with man. The field is very 
wide here. Make plain the simple principle which underlies 
it all and which follows from our faith: As God is Father, 
so we are to be sons. Make this simple principle plain by 
applications and illustrations selected from the lessons. 

Under this second head also close with practical suggestions 
and applications. What have we gained from this study for 
our thought of life? What is the most important lesson we 

78 



THE HEART OF JESUS' MESSAGE— A REVIEW 

have learned? What is the most important teaching under 
this head for our day? 

III. The Christian Hope. Here again let us make plain 
the fundamental truth and show how it belongs to the rest 
of Jesus' teaching. God is our Father: that is the faith. 'We 
are to he sons like him: that is the life. Our hope, resting 
back on the same thought of God, is this: (1) The Father 
is King, and his rule will surely come; (2) the King is Father, 
and his coming rule will bring all good to his children and 
his world. 

What, then, is this good that we may expect from such a 
God who is both power and love? 

(1) The overcoming of evil in our own life, which is to 
grow into his likeness as seen in Jesus Christ. 

(2) The overcoming of death and the gift of the life to 
come. 

(3) The final rule (kingdom) of God here on earth as well 
as in a heavenly realm. Close this part with the same practi- 
cal questions: Is our hope larger or clearer because of our 
study? What have we gained here? What do we need to 
emphasize? 



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